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OFfllTIAL DONATION. 



REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMISSIONER 



Appointed by the Legislature in J 899 



To Inyestigate and Report upon the Methods of Pro- 
cedure in this and Other States and Countries in 
Giving Instruction in Manual Training and 
in the Theory and Art of Agricult- 
ure in the Public Schools. 



L. D. HARVEY, Commissioner. 




MADISON 
Democrat Printing Company, State Printer 

1 90 1 fitCEIVi 



REPORT 

3 'if 



OF THE 



COMMISSIONER 



Appointed by the Legislature in 1899 



To Investigate and Repart upon the Methods of Pro- 
cedure in this and Other States and Countries in 
Giving Instruction in Manual Training and 
in the Theory and Art of Agricult- 
ure in the Puhlic Schools. 



L. D. HARVEY, Commissioner. 




' V O © > B t t 

I. ) . , , , 



MADISON 
PgMOCRAT Printing Company, State Printer 

1901 







1^ 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



Madison, Wis., January 15, 1901. 
To His Excellency, Robert M. La Follette, 
Governor of Wisconsin. 

Sir: — I have the honor to submit herewith as required 
by Chapter 121, Laws of 1899, my report as Commis- 
sioner, appointed by the legislature " to investigate the 
methods of procedure in this and other states and coun- 
tries in giving instruction in manual training and in the 
theory and art of agriculture in the public schools." 

In the discharge of the duties imposed upon me by 
law, I have made an extended and careful study of 
what has been attempted in the fields of agricultural 
instruction and manual training in this and other coun- 
tries. 

Addresses on the subject of instruction in agriculture, 
its possibilities and advantages, have been given at 
farmers' institutes and other gatherings of farmers and 
others interested in the agricultural development of the 
state, in probably twenty counties. 

Through the co-operation of the board of regents of 
normal schools, at my request, a plan has been inaugu- 
rated by which the seven institute conductors from the 
state normal schools have been assigned for work in 
twenty-eight of the agricultural counties of the state. 
Under this plan, each conductor will spend a week in 
each of four counties visiting the district schools each 
day, and addressing meetings of farmers each evening. 
In each of these addresses these men will present the 
desirability and advantages of instruction in the ele- 



ments of agriculture and domestic economy for country 
boys and girls. Every effort will be made by the con- 
ductors, with the co-operation of the county superin- 
tendents, to awaken new and larger interest on the part 
of the people, in the education of the country boys and 
girls. 

During the two years, I have made addresses in many 
of the cities of the state on the subject of manual train- 
ing, and an extensive correspondence has been carried 
on for the purpose of arousing an interest in this sub- 
ject, and in instruction in agriculture and domestic 
economy. As a result of these efforts, caWs are coming 
for addresses upon these subjects from so many local- 
ities that my entire time could be devoted to this work. 

Conferences have been had and correspondence car- 
ried on with recognized leaders in the field of agricul- 
tural instruction for the purpose of securing their judg- 
ments as to ways and means for inaugurating this work 
in the public schools. 

With the hope that the efforts thus far put forth may 
not be without value, and that some provision may be 
made for further effort in the same direction, until 
tangible results are secured, this report is respectfully 
submitted, [ am, 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

L. D. Harvev, 

Cojnniisstoner. 



REPORT OX INSTRUCTION IN AGRICULTURE IN THE 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



In reporting upon the feasibility of providing instruc- 
tion in the Elements of Agriculture for rural communi- 
ties, it is necessary first to consider whether such instruc- 
tion is desirable. To determine this it is necessary to 
make a brief survey of existing conditions, both in the 
country and city. 

I believe it will be conceded by all, that the purpose 
for which the public school system is organized and 
maintained, is the training for good citizenship. One 
of the first essentials of good citizenship is, that the in- 
dividual shall be so trained as to be not only a self-sup- 
porting member of society, but so that he may be able 
to support those dependent upon him. An education 
which does not keep this end in view, is of but little 
value, and it is doubtful whether there can be any justi- 
fication for support by public taxation of a system of 
education which ignores this element. 

This does not mean that it is the function of the pub- 
lic school system to fit individuals for the immediate 
practice of whatever vocation they may decide to enter. 
vVhile public interests may justify special lines of train- 
ing for particular fields of activity, there must necessar- 
ily be a limit beyond which public education cannot 
wisely go in this direction. It is a recognized, fact that 
the environment in which children are reared is, gener- 
ally speaking, the one in which they are likely to con- 
tinue in later years. We do not expect that the city- 
bred children, educated in city schools, will to any large 
extent find their future occupations in the country. 
And while it is true that there is a larger movement 
from the country to the city than from the city to the 



6 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Scliools. 

country, it is still true that the majority of those reared 
upon the farm, will likely continue their activities in 
later life under conditions which obtain in the country. 

I take it that it will be conceded that in the city 
schools an effort should be made to awaken an intelli- 
gent interest on the part of the children there being 
trained, in their immediate environment — not that 
their interests shall be confined wholly to the conditions 
of city life — but since they are likely to remain in the 
city, the necessity for the development of such an inter- 
est as will make the success of their life work more 
probable, seems evident. 

The relations between country and city are becoming 
more close year by year, and it will therefore be clear 
that the city boy and girl will be more likely to succeed 
in the environment of the city, if they know something 
of and have some interest in the conditions which sur- 
round and control the activities of country life; but it 
will always remain true that their largest interests are 
concerned with the things immediately about them. 

It is equally true that the education which the coun- 
try boy and girl are to receive, should put them in touch 
with their environment, and should awaken an intelli- 
gent interest in the things immediately about them, and 
make clear to them the possibilities for intellectual ac- 
tivity and development for the individual who lives in 
the country. It should make clear to them the neces- 
sity for something more than hard physical labor for 
success upon the farm. It should make evident to them 
that a trained intelligence brought to bear upon the 
problems of farm life is a necessity for the highest suc- 
cess, and that when so brought to bear, if coupled with 
industry and economy, will produce financial returns 
coming to but a small proportion of those who find their 
life work in the cities. 

If these premises are correct, then it follows, that the 
country boy and girl should have opportunities in the 
schools open to them and which they are able to attend, 
for securing a more intimate knowledge of the things 
with which they are likely to be concerned in after life, 
than is now afforded. They have a right not only to this 
knowledge, but to the kind of training necessarily re- 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 7 

# 

quired in securing it. It is important, to them also, that 
through this knowledge and training there shall come 
the development of a new set of interests, which under 
present conditions rarely exist. 

To say that the country boys and girls, q8 per cent, of 
whom secure in the district schools all the education 
which they receive in any school, should be compelled 
to enter upon their life work with little or no knowledge 
of the myriad forms of plant and animal life about them, 
of the quality and composition of the soil from which they 
are to secure their livelihood, with no appreciation of 
the fact that successful agriculture demands the appli- 
cation of a wider range of scientific principles than any 
other vocation, with no knowledge of the facts and 
principles of science applicable to agriculture and with 
no interest in them, with no appreciation of the fact 
that modern industrial development with its improved 
means of transportation and communication, makes the 
problem of competition as vital a one for the farmer as 
for the merchant or the manufacturer, is to rob them 
of the very things which are essential to success in their 
life work, as measured not only from a financial stand- 
point, but from the standpoint of the development of 
the individual. 

No one who knows anything of the teaching in the 
country schools, will contend, for a moment, that they 
are at present doing these things for their pupils. No 
one who knows the facts as to the age at which a ma- 
jority of the pupils leave even the district schools to 
begin work, will claim that all that ought to be done for 
them can possibly be done under existing conditions in 
those schools. This is true, because the comprehension 
of the basic facts and scientific principles which it is 
necessary to know and apply in successful farming, can- 
not be secured at the early age at which most 
pupils leave these schools. Whatever might be done 
for them in the way of study of the things about them 
to quicken their intelligence and awaken their interests, 
is done to-day in very few schools. The only opportu- 
nity afforded the country boy in Wisconsin to secure 
any working knowledge of the scientific basis of agri- 
culture, is that given in the agricultural department of 
the State University. That department is doing a 



8 Insti'uction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

grand work, not only for the development of the young 
men who attend it, but for the material development of 
the entire state. At the present time, cirowded as it is 
beyond its capacity to adequately care for those who 
are in attendance, less than hvehundred boys from 
our rural papulation are securing its advantages. 
These boys when they go back to the communi- 
ties from which they came and put into practice vyhat 
they have learned at the University, show the beneficial 
results of the kind of training given there. Their in- 
fluence affects others, and is ever widening. That in- 
fluence would extend much more rapidly, and improve- 
ment in modes of farming would make more rapid 
strides, if opportunities were afforded for awakening 
the interest and intelligence of the boys in every farm- 
ing community in the state, in matters which vitally 
concern the people of these communities. The high 
schools which exist in the cities and villages offer but 
few opportunities for the country boy and girl to secure 
the kind of training which would be most valuable for 
theni if they are to remain upon the farm. They will 
get in these schools a general training, such as comes 
from the study of books, but the farmer has to deal not 
with books alone, but chiefly with things, and the high 
school does not effectively train its pupils for this form 
of activity. It becomes evident then, that it is desir- 
able to modify in some considerable degree the work 
now done in the district schools, by offering in them in- 
struction in the study of nature, or in other words, 
through training which will develop the power and the 
habit of close observation of the things about them, an 
interest in whatever pertains to rural life, and a ten- 
dency to look for the reasons for things. Whatever 
can be done with pupils of the age of those found in 
the district schools to cultivate a taste for the study of 
nature in its various forms, should be done. This 
should be_ supplemented by a class of schools to be es- 
tablished in farmingcommunities, which shall undertake 
to carry on this work beyond the district schools, where 
it may be easily accessible to the country pupils, and at 
low cost. 

For this modification of work in the district schools, 
but little can be hoped under existing conditions. It 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 9 

has been attempted in our own state and in other 
states and countries, and in every case has proven a 
dismal failure, except where teachers have been spe- 
cially trained to do this kind of work. Our Wisconsin 
teachers do not have this training at the present time. 
The normal schools are doing something in this direc- 
tion, but may and ought to do much more.C B^-'t even 
then, the results would be meagre in the great mass of 
the district schools, for most of these schools are taught 
by teachers who have not had the advantages of normal 
school training. The teachers' institutes have for two 
years been undertaking to awaken an"*' interest in this 
work, and, so far as possible, have offered instruction 
during the brief time they have been held, which should 
aid the teachers in carrying it on. Were the funds for 
these institutes adequate to furnish the full quota of 
institute work called for from the several counties of 
the state, much more might be done than it is possible 
to do at the present time. Even then, the constant 
change in the teaching force, by which probably not 
less than two thou^^and new teachers enter the public 
schools each year who have not been specially trained, 
it would be impossible to carry on the work continu- 
ously and effectively in a large number of schools. 
Even under the best conditions possible of realization 
the extent to which this work may be successfully car- 
ried on in the district schools is necessarily limited. If 
communities would take advantage of the possibilities 
growing out of the consolidation of schools and trans 
portation of pupils at public expense, by which the 
children of the entire township could* be brought into 
one central school without any increase of expenditure, 
it would be possible to secure teachers trained for this 
work, more regular attendance, and therefore, better 
results. Even then much would remain to be done. 
The class of schools I have already suggested, which 
should offer in each agricultural countv an opportunity 
for the pupils after completing the district schools to 
carry on this work nearer their own homes, where they 
can attend without any large expense, is needed, if our 
public school system is to adequately do the work of 
training for citizenship demanded by modern condi- 
tions. 



10 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

Elementary and secondary instruction in agriculture 
is something comparatively unknown in this country. 
To show that it is not an untried experiment, and to 
give an idea of what is being accomplished elsewhere, 
the following statement of what is being done in for- 
eign countries is presented. 

Acknowledgments are made to Prof. F. W. Woll, 
Assistant Professor of Agricultural Chemistry, Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin, and to A. C. True, Ph. D., Director 
of the Office of Experiment Stations, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, for valuable information concerning the 
status of Agricultural Education in the Scandin'avian 
countries, Finland, and Belgium. 



DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURAL IN- 
STRUCTION IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 

THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES. 

Norway, with a population of two million, had in 
1896 forty-two institutions for agricultural instruction, 
research, or control. Sweden, with a population of less 
than five million, had eighty-six such institutions. Den- 
mark, with a population of less than two and a quarter 
millions, and an area of 1^,289 square miles, has twenty- 
eight such institutions. Finland, with a population of 
less than two and a half millions, and an area of 144,255 
square miles, had 49 such institutions. These institu- 
tions in the four countries, were classified as follows : 

Agricultural colleges 5 

Agricultural intermediate schools 2 

Agricultural elementary schools 87 

Dairy schools 46 

Horticultural schools 10 

Forestry schools 5 

Farriery schools 4 

Chemical control stations 11 

Milk control stations 3 

Seed control stations 25 

Experiment stations '. 7 

The four countries have on an average, an agricult- 
ural school for about every 58,000 of the rural population, 
and a control or experiment station for every 220,000 



Instruction in Agriculture in tlie Public Schools. 11 

of the rural population. In order to reach a similar 
ratio in Wisconsin, there would have to be thirty-four 
agricultural schools, and nine experiment stations. 

The institutions for furnishing- instruction in agricul- 
ture in the Scandinavian countries are of two classes, 
those designed to give elementary instruction, and 
those for advanced instruction. The schools offering 
elementary instruction in agriculture are located in 
different parts of each ot the countries, and are sup- 
ported largely, though seldom wholly, by state aid, the 
districts in which the schools are located paying the re- 
maining portion of the expense. In Norway the state 
pays on an average three-fourths of the expenses for 
the support of these elementary schools, while in the 
other Scandinavian countries the appropriations are of 
definite sums. In all these countries the institutions 
offering the advanced instruction in agricultural 
branches are supported wholly by the respective states. 
The difference between these two classes of schools 
may be briefly stated as follows: The elenientary 
schools provide both practical and theoretical instruc- 
tion, except in one class of Swedish schools, while the 
higher agricultural schools are essentially theoretical, 
previous experience in ordinary farm work being re- 
quired of students. 

As the state university already provides facilities for 
advanced work, it will be unnecessary to consider, in 
this report, the plan of organization and character of 
work in the higher institutions. 

In each of the four countries named, the elementary 
agricultural schools have practically the same basis of 
organization. In all ot them the instruction given is 
built upon the common school education. The aini as 
stated is "to impart fundamental knowledge in agricul- 
tural branches to future farmers.'' To be admitted as 
a pupil in most of these schools, the candidate must be 
eighteen years of age, must produce a doctor's certifi- 
cate that he is strong, without bodily defects, and tree 
from contagious disease. He must also present a cer- 
tificate of character from his pastor. He must be able 
to write with a fair degree of correctness, from dic- 
tation, be efficient in the elementary work in arithmetic, 
and have a fair knowledge of the .(geography and history 



in Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

of his country. At least one year's practice in ordinary 
farm work is required as an essential for , admission, 
and an application, written by the candidate himself, 
must be sent to the director of the school. The candi- 
dates must finally pass an entrance examination in 
composition, arithmetic, geography, and history, before 
being admitted as pupils. Preference is given to appli- 
cants living in the district where the school is located, 
and to eldest sons having allodial rights, who therefore 
may be counted on settling as farmers in the district. 
The number of applicants for entrance to these schools 
greatly exceed the number that can be accommodated, 
so that only those who are well qualified for the work, 
and who intend to become farmers in the district in 
which the school is located, are, as a rule, likely to be 
admitted. 

The schools are located in the country on farms 
belonging to the respective districts (counties), and 
operated at their expense supplemented by state aid. 

The farnis vary in size from one hundred to two hun- 
dred acres, or more. They are generally well equipped 
with buildings, farm machinery, library, instructional 
apparatus, improved stock, etc. The director must be 
a practical farmer. He usually holds a diploma from 
one of the agricultural colleges, and often he has con- 
tinued his studies abroad, along special lines, after 
graduation. It is required of him to conduct the farm 
so. that it forms a good object lesson and a model, both 
for the pupils themselves and for the farmers in the 
surrounding district. The number of teachers at these 
schools in addition to the director, varies somewhat, 
according to the development and conditions of agri- 
culture in the various districts. There is generally a 
second teacher, who is the assistant to the director, and 
also teachers in horticulture, forestry, and dairying. 
The latter are experts in their particular lines, and 
teach only these branches, while the general fundamen- 
tal branches are taught by the director and his assist- 
ant. The course of instruction offered in these schools, 
is partly theoretical and partly practical, and lasts from 
one and a half to two years. The practical instruction 
occupies three hours a day, and covers the following 
preparatory studies: Composition, practical arithmetic, 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 13 

plane geometry, chemistry and physics. The basal stud- 
ies taught are agriculture (including mineralogy, geology, 
botany, and physiology), animal husbandry (including 
dairying), forestry, horticulture, book-keeping, and 
farm accounts. Practical exercises are given in survey- 
ing, map drawing, farm machinery, and farm buildings, 
drainage, forestry, horticulture, blacksmithing, and 
carpentry, and geological and botanical excursions. 
Practical work in the field or barn occupies the full 
time of the students during the summer, when they take 
part in the regular farm work under the supervision of 
the director or the second teacher. Work in black- 
smithing and carpentry comes throughout the year, by 
rotation, one or two students at a time having exercises 
in these branches each day, or afternoon. The class 
room instruction consists largely of recitations from 
text books, and written compositions on the subjects 
treated are frequently required. At the completion of 
the full course, the students are subjected to written 
and verbal examinations, the former in agriculture, 
animal husbandry, and practical arithmetic, the 
latter in agriculture and botany, animal husbandry, for- 
estry and horticulture, chemistry and physics, practical 
arithmetic and geometry. The pupil is marked in each 
study, and on passing the examination and properly 
completing the course, receives a diploma from the 
school, giving in detail his standing in each study, and 
his average standing, together with the remarks on his 
industry and behavior during his school life. 

SWEDEN. 

In Sweden there is a second class of elementary agri- 
cultural schools, which are calculated to furnish young 
men with the theoretical education required for the 
proper management of the smaller farms. The courses 
last twenty to twenty-four weeks, beginning on the last 
week day of October each year. The requirements for 
admission are somewhat higher than those just stated, 
and in addition at least one year's experience in ordi- 
nary farm work is required. The studies taught in this 
school are physics and meteorology, chemistry, botany, 
zoology, geology, agriculture, veterinary science, animal 



14 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

husbandry, dairying, architecture, geometry and survey- 
ing, farm book-keeping, and drawing. The total num- 
ber of hours of instruction during the course varies from 
595 to i,oor at the different schools, or an average of 
four to seven hours a day. For all the schools of this 
class the average number of hours of instruction in a 
given year is 825, equivalent to six hours daily. The 
state pays one-half the expense of maintaining these 
schools, the other half being borne by the county in 
which the school is located. The plan of instruction 
is under the control of the state. There are at present 
fourteen agricultural schools of this class in operation 
in Sweden. 

DENMARK. 

Denmark has seventeen elementary agricultural 
schools, all supported in part by the state. The growth 
of interest in agricultural instruction in Denmark dur- 
ing the latter half of the century as compared with the 
lack of interest during the earlier part of the century, 

15 shoM^i by the fact that the first school of this kind was' 
opened in Denmark in the year i8co. This, so tar as is 
known, was the first agricultural school ever organized 
in the world. The school was founded through the gen- 
erosity of a Danish Major General, J. F. Classen. His 
will contained the clause providing for the establishment 
of a seminary or agricultural institute for the benefit of 
'■good subjects of the farming class" where fundamental 
agricultural principles were to be taught during a course 
of from three to four years. The scholars were to have 
free rooms and board, and also necessary wearing ap- 
parel. They were to be elected from the different parts 
of the country on recommendation of the county mag- 
istrates. The agricultural society was asked to select a 
person who should fit himself for the professorship of 
agriculture in this school through three years of travel 
in foreign countries. In 1793 a Mr. Olufsen was elected 
to the position, and he traveled tiirough most of the 
European countries during the following years. On his 
return to Denmark, he at once proceeded in conjunc- 
tion with the board of regents of the school and the 
state agricultural society, to carefully plan, build, and 
equip ihe school at Nasgaard, located in a beautiful re- 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Puhlic Scliools. 15 

g^ion peculiarly well adapted for the purpose in view. 
Only one pupil presented himself, however, and the 
opening of the school was postponed. "The farmers 
did not believe that anything could be gained by going 
to a schbol to learn how to run a farm." The school was 
not opened permanently until 1849, nearly fifty years 
having elapsed before sufficient interest in the subject 
had been aroused in Denmark to furnish enough stu- 
dents to warrant the opening of the school. Since that 
time the school has been in operation, and at the pres- 
ent time twenty-five educational institutions, devoted to 
instruction in agriculture, and three stations are being 
carried on. It is stated that in these schools the number 
of young farmers who have received instruction consid- 
erably exceeds ten thousand. This is a remarkable 
showing considering the fact that the total population 
of the country is a little more than two million people. 

FINLAND. 

Finland has two so-called intermediate agricultural 
schools of a somewhat higher grade than those already 
described. In these schools two different courses in 
agriculture are offered, one lasting two years, and the 
other one year. A dairy course is also given. The in- 
struction offered is both theoretical and practical. The 
following number of hours are given to the various 
studies in the two years' course: 

First year — Natural history, 122; arithmetic, 153; 
composition, 259; total, 534. 

Second year — Natural history, 30; arithmetic, 86; 
composition, 57; agriculture, 134; animal husbandry, 50; 
veterinary science, 65; farriering, 9; drawing, 40, 
forestry, 30; surveying, 65; agricultural law, 18; farm 
book-keeping, 76; total, 660. In addition the students 
take part in all practical work on the farm, in the field, 
barn, and stable, composting manure, threshing, tile 
draining, grubbing, gardening, harvesting ice, road re- 
pairing, forestry work, etc. The students are in gen- 
eral graduates of the Finnish common schools or high 
schools. In one of the two intermediate agricultural 
schools, a theoretical winter course running through 
two sessions is required. ' The plan of instruction given 



16 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

is more along theoretical lines, and is more advanced 
than that followed in the elementary agricultural 
schools. • 

There are twenty-two elenientary agricultural schools 
in operation in Finland. The state assists in the main- 
tenance of each of these schools. Even with this num- 
ber of schools organized, the facilities are not yet ample 
to provide instruction for all seeking it. 

A comparison of the courses offered in these schools 
with the short courses offered in the agricultural depart- 
ment of our state university, shows that in many re- 
spects the work is similar. In those countries many of the 
students in the higher agricultural schools have had 
their preliminary training in these elementary schools 
of agriculture. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN IRELAND. 

From the report of the Parliamentary Commission 
on Manual and Practical Instruction in Primary Schools 
in Ireland, submitted to parliament in i8q8, it appears 
that the commissioners of national education for Ire- 
land, in their report for 1837, expressed an intention of 
providing for instruction in those branches of science 
which have a practical application of husbandry and 
handicraft. The Commission found, however, at the 
time of its report, that the branches of science "having 
a practical application to husbandry do not hold so 
prominent a place in the school curriculum as the re- 
port of 1837 would lead them to expect, while practical 
farming, so far at least as such a subject could be taught 
from the text book, is one of the chief branches of in- 
struction." Under the rules of the commissioners of 
national education, agriculture is a compulsory subject 
for boys of the fourth and higher classes in all rural 
schools, and is optional for girls. Even in town schools, 
the subject may be taught to boys and girls. In t8q6 
the number of pupils examined in this subject was 85,- 
jy;^, of which 56,478 passed. The amount of govern- 
ment aid given directly for this work, was about $65,- 
000 in that year. The following is taken from the re- 
port of the commission: 

"The program laid down by the Commissioners of 
National Education consists of various chapters of a. 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 17 

text book entitled 'Introduction to practical farming,' 
which deals with such subjects as the following: Cul- 
tivation of land; manures; live stock; dairying; garden- 
ing; agricultural instruments; land drainage and recla- 
mation; farm fences; etc. The subject was taught in the 
national schools as a rule entirely from this text book, 
and was unaccompanied by any practical illustrations, 
a knowledge of the text book alone being required by 
the rules of the commissioners." 

"The evidence we have received throughout Ireland 
goes to show that the subject so taught is of little edu- 
cational value. The children do not get any real grasp 
of the subject, as no efforts need be made to give them 
a practical acquaintance with the objects and processes 
described in the lessons. For example, Ur. T. J. Alex- 
ander, Head Inspector of National Schools in Cork, 
states that the present book teaching is worthless. Mr. 
Purser, another Head Inspector, expresses the same 
opinion. Lord Monteagle, who is much interested in 
agricultural education, is of opinion that the present 
teaching out of a book is wholly useless if not worse. 
Similar evidence was given by many othercompetent wit- 
nesses. This opinion is quite in accordance with the evi- 
dence we received in England. Mr. John Chalmers, Head 
Master of Burton School, Westmoreland, stated that he 
would not think anything of the teaching of agriculture 
merely out of books. Another witness, Mr. C. Court- 
enay Hodgson, Organizing Secretary to the Cumberland 
County Council, was of the opinion that theoretical in- 
struction without work by the pupils on an experimental 
plot, was quite valueless. Mr. T. G. Rooper, one of 
Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools in England, de- 
clared that he would never encourage the teaching of 
agriculture merely from books." The following are 
some of the recommendations of the commission : 

" VVe are strongly of opinion that even if the in- 
struction were more efficiently given, the subject of 
practical farming forms no fitting part of the program 
of a primary school. The attempt to teach the details 
of the art of agriculture to children of school age can 
be of little profit. As regards the scientific aspect of 
agriculture on the other hand, some preliminary train- 
2 



18 Instruction in Agriculture in the Puhlic ScJiools. 

ing in the simplest elements of natural and physical sci- 
ence is absolutely necessary for a proper appreciation 
of the bearing of scientific principles to the practice of 
farming. While, therefore, we fully recognize the great 
importance, especially as regards Ireland, of instruction 
in practical farming, we consider that this should be 
given only in special schools of a technical character." 

" We are consequently of opinion that the course in 
agriculture at present prescribed for national schools 
should be altered. The new course should consist of 
instruction in the elements of the natural and physical 
sciences that have a direct bearing on agriculture, and 
this instruction should be given with the aid of experi- 
ments of a simple character, performed as tar as pos- 
sible by the pupils themselves. Such a course of in- 
struction will be of a nature entirely within the capacity 
of the children of a primary school. It will afford a 
good disciplinary training for all children, even for 
those who are not to be subsequently engaged in the 
practice of agriculture, while it will enable those who 
are to be so engaged at a later stage, to make intelli- 
gent use of scientific treatises on the subject." 

The course in agriculture thus modified, will natur- 
ally constitute the course in elementary science for boys 
in rural schools. 

" In this connection we beg to call attention to the 
following extract from a publication recently issued by 
the French government on the ' Teaching of Elemen- 
tary Ideas of Agriculture in Rural Schools,' which clearly 
expresses our views on the matter: " 

" Instruction in the elementary principles of agriculture, such as can be 
properly included in the programme of primary schools, ought to be ad- 
dressed less to the memory than to the intelligence of the children. It 
should be based on observation of the every-day facts of rural life, and on 
a system of simple experiments, appropriate to the resources of the school, 
and calculated to bring out clearly the fundamental scientific principles 
underlying the most important agricultural operations. Above all, the 
pupils of a rural school should be taught the reasons for these operations, 
and the explanations for the phenomena which accompany them, but not 
the details of methods of execution, still less a resume of maxims, defini- 
tions or agricultural precepts. To know the essential conditions of the 
growth of cultivated plants, to understand the reasons for the work of or- 
dinary cultivation, and for the rules of health for man and domestic ani- 
mals — such are matters which should first be taught to everyone who is 
to live by tilling the soil; and this can be done only by the experimental 
method. 

" The master whose teaching of agriculture consists only in making the 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 19. 

pupils study and repeat an ag:ricultural manual, is on the wrong path, 
however well designed the manual may be. It is necessary to rely on very 
simple experiments, and especially on observation. 

"As a matter of fact, it is only by putting before the children's eyes the 
phenomena to be observed, that they can be taught to observe, and that 
the principles which underlie the science of modern agriculture, can be in- 
stilled into their minds. It should be remembered that this can be done 
for the rural agriculturist only at school, where it will never be necessary 
to teach him the details which his father knows better than the teacher, 
and which he will be certain to learn from his own practical experience. 

" The wor): of the elementary school should be confined to preparing the 
child for an intelligent apprenticeship to the trade by which he is to live, 
to giving him a taste for his future occupation: with this in view, the 
teacher should never forget that the best way to make a workman like 
his work, is to make him understand it." 

In Ireland there were in 'q8, forty-seven national 
schools havin,^ fariTjs attached, varying in area from 
one and a half to forty-eight acres, in which instruction 
was given not only in the theory but in the art of prac- 
tical agriculture. These farms are technically known 
as school farms. There were also eighty-two national 
schools having gardens attached, usually less than one 
acre in extent, in which instruction was given in cottage 
gardening, poultry management, etc. These are known 
as school gardens. The Commission recommended that 
in order to give teachers facilities for experimental 
teaching, school gardens, each of which need not con- 
tain more than one-qua. ter of an acre, should be pro- 
vided where possible in connection with rural schools. 
They state: "These gardens if well and tastefully kept, 
would have a refining and elevating influence on the 
children, and would thus indirectly tend to improve the 
surroundings of their own homes. Even where land is 
not available for school gardens, the teacher should 
endeavor by simple experiments in the school room, to 
illustrate natural processes, such as the germination of 
seeds, the effect of manures, etc., and should utiliz?. 
any opportunity afforded by the locality to exemplify 
the practical applications of scientific principles." 

ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN FRANCE. 

In 1887 a decree was issued by the French govern- 
ment, making provision for instruction in the elements 
of agriculture in the primary schools in France. The 
scheme was somewhat like that outlined for Irish 
schools, namely, a series of lessons from a text book 



20 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

dealing with methods of cultivation of the important 
crops, gardening, and a few notions about the- care of 
livestock, soils, manures, drainage and common agri- 
cultural instruments. In France as in Ireland this 
scheme proved unsatisfactory, and in about 1897 the 
plan was abandoned and a new scheme inaugurated. 
The new schenie limits agricultural teaching in elemen- 
tary schools to giving the pupils instruction in scientific 
notions that underlie the principles and practices of ag- 
riculture, with reference to conditions under which the 
crops grown are best developed, the reasons for the 
principal operations of cultivation, and the laws of 
growth of man and the domestic animals. These no- 
tions are to be taught by means of object lessons, and 
by experiments. Actual methods of cultivation are not to 
be taught, because (i) the children of country schools 
(who seldom frequent the school after twelve years of 
age) are too young to learn them, and (2) , the teachers 
can not be expected to be complete masters of the art 
and practice of agriculture. It is desired that all sci- 
entific teaching in country schools should have an agri- 
cultural bearing, and that it should as far as possible 
be accompanied by experiments on the part of the 
teacher from the very first. In this plan, the nature of 
these experiments is two-fold: i. Physical experiments 
illustrating elementary scientific notions such as the 
three states of matter, properties (e. g., density, volume) 
of air, nature of ox^^gen, nitrogen, a nd carbonic acid gas, 
effect of these gases on life and vegetation, force of 
gravity, a few of the commoner phenomena produced by 
heat and light (e. g., cumbustion, expansion, reflection, 
etc.) ; germination of plants, and their economy." 

2. "Experiments by cultivation in flower pots or in 
assigned portion of school garden. These experiments 
have for objects the demonstration of the different 
growth of plants according to their conditions as re- 
gards manures, modes of tillage, etc. The first kind of 
experiments is generally carried on during the winter 
months, the others in the spring and summer. Pupils 
of the intermediate and higher classes assist at and take 
part in them." 

In connection with the French rural schools there 
are school gardens> and experimental plots. The 



instruction in Agriculture in the Puhlic Schools. 21 

school garden is the private property of the teacher, 
and used by him for his sole profit and advantage. If 
it is used in teaching agriculture, it is because it happens 
to be the most convenient place for that purpose. The 
experimental plot is on the contrary, public property, 
and is used tor demonstrating some important fact in 
plant growth or for making some interesting experi- 
ments useful either to children or adults. 

While nearly every rural school has a school garden, 
not four per cent, of them have an experimental plot, 
and yet it is fully recognized by the leading authorities 
that until every school has such a plot, much lower 
scientific teaching on the value and correct use of 
manure, and on the selection of the best varieties of the 
different crops grown in the locality can not be expected. 
What stands most in the way of obtaining these plots is 
the fact that the rural communes who have to pay the 
rent for them, not rightly appreciating their utility, do 
not care to incur the expense, but an effort is being 
made to point out the necessity of supplying them. 
These plots are usually small in extent, generally not 
exceeding a quarter of an acre. The foregoing relates 
to work in what is known as the primary schools of 
France, corresponding to our district schools. 

The next higher class of schools is called the higher 
primary. I give here the program of theoretical agri- 
culture and horticulture in this class of schools. These 
schools are adapted to pupils from thirteen to sixteen 
years of age, who have completed the w^ork in the 
primary schools. 

AGRICULTURE. 

First F«ar.— Soil— Sub-soil.— Modifications in view of cultivation, in- 
struments of tillage, different operations of cultivation. 

Study of plants from an agricultural point of view. Natural agents of 
vegetation. 

Domestic Animals. — Useful and injurious insects. 

Garden Instruments. — Principal operations of horticulture. 

Second and Third Year. — Soil ard water, drainage and irrigation. 

Operation and instruments of large cultivation. 

Cultivation peculiar to the district. 

Natucal and artificial meadows. — Vine growth. 

Large and small cattle, poultry-yard, rearing of bees. 

Gardening. — Vegetable and fruit gardens, works and product's. 

Notions of the growing of trees. 

Agricultural economy. 

Agricultural bookkeeping. 



22 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 



PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE. 

First Year. — The pupils are employed as helpers in the work of the 
other years. 

Second and Third Years. — Spring and Summer Work. — Principal 
operations of gardeninj^, demonstrative cultivation, grafting, comparative 
experiments in cultivations; plants of different varieties with the same 
manure, same plants with different manure, experimental squares and 
plots. Cultivations peculiar to the region. 

Winter IFor/i;.— Preparation of products used in agriculture; lime in 
its different forms, salts of copper, etc.: mixing lime and sulphur with seed 
corn, etc.; experimental study of the elements of a piece of earth, of vege- 
table mould, of a cinder, and of the principal manures (these experiments 
will be simply qualitative.") 

Work has been beoun looking toward the prepara- 
tion of teachers for the carrying out oi these experiments 
through the introduction of the system into the eighty- 
five male training colleges in France where opportuni- 
ties are offered for teachers to prepare themselves for 
this work, leachers have also been invited to discuss 
the subject in all the teachers' conferences held for dis- 
cussion of methods of teaching. 

The former able Director General of French Agri- 
culture, Monsieur Tiesserand, says, " the aim and ob- 
ject of France has been not only to give to children and 
3^oung people, the means of acquiring knowledge, but 
also to establish means for iiitcrcsfino; old culti-jators. 
In this century of extreme competition we must admit 
that the agriculturist can only thrive if, in working the 
soil, he adopts scientific methods. Old routine is no 
longer sufficient in this branch, as it is proved to be in- 
sufficient in manufacture." 

From statistics of 1893, it appears that during that 
year instruction was given in France to 3,600 pupil 
teachers, thirty agricultural laboratories throughout the 
country furnished analyses of soils and manures, for 
the help of cultivators, and 3,362 trial farms were estab- 
lished, where farmers could profit by experiment suit- 
able to their own districts. At that time the special 
farm schools numbered 16; practical schools of agri- 
culture, 39; national schools of agriculture and horti- 
culture, 6; three veterinary schools, and one each 
bearing the name of National Agronomic Institute, is a 
Shepherd school, a Cheese, and a Silkworm school. In 
the universities there were 160 departments and chairs 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 23 

of agriculture for students of profoundest research. All 
this cost the department alone over 4,504,050 francs per 
annum. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN SWITZERLAND. 

No work in this subject is done in the primary schools 
of Switzerland. There is, however, a class of secondary 
rural schools to which pupils go after completing the 
work of the primary school, and where special atten- 
tion is given to the teaching of agriculture. The pro- 
gram of studies in this class of schools for boys is as 
follows: 

(i) French. 

(2) German. 

(3) Arithmetic. 

(4) Geometry. 

(5) Physical natural science. 

(6) Geography and history. 

(7) Drawing. 

(8) Special courses of agriculture and manual work. 
(q) Gymnastics, and 

(10) Singing. 

That for girls is the same, except that we find do- 
mestic economy, cutting out, dress making, and ironing, 
in place of agriculture and gymnastics. These courses 
last from nineteen to twenty-two hours a week, those 
for the boys being held in the morning from 7 to 11:30 
or 12, and those for the girls from i to 5 or 5:30 P. M. 
These schools are built and furnished by two or more 
communes united for the purpose. The canton pays 
the teachers and the special professors, and supplies 
the materials necessary for the daily work of the pupils. 
In these schools the subject of agriculture is divided 
into the following parts, each of which is taught by a 
specialist in the subject, who, however, does not confine 
his work to one school, but who goes round from one 
to another of the schools in his canton. His visits are 
determined at the beginning of the year by the educa- 
tional department of the state, and the days on which 
he is to visit that particular school are set forth on a 
printed time table, which is sent to each of the schools 



24 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

at the beginning of the year. The following are the 
subjects taught, programs prescribed, and number of 
lessons per annum. 

1. Arboriculture. — Choice of the best varieties of fruit to cultivate. 
PJantation of trees, and care to be given to the orchard. Different kinds 
of grafting; ; budding, pruning, and training (10 lessons). 

2. Market Oardenivg. — Cultivation of the principal vegetables and 
choice of the most remunerative varieties. Growth of beans, both haricot 
and French. The cultivation of the strawberry plant ; choice of the best 
varieties for transportation and for the market. The Tomato. Rhubarb. 
Potatoes, quick, early, etc. Garden Practice. Sowing ; planting of vege- 
tables (6 lessons). 

3. Vine CM^^wre.— Unnecessary to give details. 

4. Hearing of Cottle. — Improvement of the race of domestic animals. 
Rearing; Feeding. Study of the "points " of horned cattle as to the in- 
dications they give of the value of these cattle (with practical demonstra- 
tions). First care to be given to domestic animals in case of 
sickness (with practical demonstrations, 5 lessons). 

5. Rearing of i?ee.s.— Conditions essential for a good wintering. Work 
to be done during the winter. First visit of the year; the most favorable 
moment. Series of work to be done up to and at the time of collecting 
the honey. Practical exercises (4 lessons i. 

These courses are not only for the pupils of the secondary rural schools, 
but also for young persons of both sexes of more than J 5 years of age 
who have completed the sixth course of the primary school. 

To enable the program to be usefully carried out there is attached to 
each of these schools an experimental plot. These plots are usually small, 
but the pupils are allowed to work in the school garden also, and have 
thus a fairly wide scope for experiments and observation. In the school 
garden they can also see the result of experiments undertaken in previous 
years by their predecessors. The following is from the report of a visitor 
to one of these schools : "At Bernex I saw in operation an interesting 
and useful practice. Each pupil when he goes to school is allowed to 
plant 10 or 12 young fruit trees of diffei-ent kinds, and to graft others 
if necessary. These they watch and attend for the two years they remain 
at the school; when leaving the school they are allowed to dig them up 
and bring them home and plant them in their father's garden. In this 
way the Genevese, who are at present giving much attention to the im- 
provement of fruit trees, hope after a short time to spread both good trees 
and the knowledge of the right way of caring for them throughout the 
country. The head master informed me that the boys take special inter- 
est in the result of their own labours, and are quite proud when they have 
been successful in grafting a plant or in any other operation, with the re- 
sult that even those otherwise indifferent about their work begin to bestir 
themselves, not only at practical work, but also at their other studies. 
* * * The education given in these schools is well calculated to 
open the minds of the peasant and the farmer to everything that could 
interest them in their daily life, making them see beauty where otherwise 
they might see nothing ; training them while still young to perform the 
daily labours of rural life with interest and intelligence, and thus beget- 
ting in them a love for country life, which bodes well for the future pros- 
perity of their native land. What we have to recognize is that the town, 
with all its attractive appearance and outward show, is daily drawing, in 
every country in Europe, the peasant from the field, the cultivator from 
the farm, and is in so far diminishing the native production of the coun- 
try by draining it of its workers. How to stop this drain is, in France 
and Switzerland as well as here, the question of the hour ; and have we 



Instruction in Agriculture in the PuhJlc Scliools. 25 

not in tliese rural schools the best solution of the question yet offered ? 
These schools are for the many, not for the few ; for the young, not for 
the old ; and they are to be found within easy reach (2I2 miles in Geneva) 
of every pupil, and thus satisfy all reasona))le requirements." 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN BELGIUM. 

The teaching of agriculture has been obligatory in rural schools in Bel- 
gium for the last fifteen years. For the town schools a program in Notions 
of Natural Science has been drawn up to correspond to the agricultural 
teaching in the country, but it is not obligatory. As a rule, however, 
most city bchools have the subject in their course, and the number of boys' 
schools that teach neither science nor agriculture is smalL 

The system of agricultural education adopted 
in Belgium in iSqo provided for primary, second- 
ary, and superior schools or courses of agri- 
culture. Primary agricultural courses for adult 
farmers are conducted under the direction of the 
master of agriculture, while courses of a similar 
grade for teachers and children are supervised by the 
minister of public education. The secondary and super- 
ior schools of agriculture, as well as other agencies for 
promoting agricultural education and research, are 
directed by the minister of agriculture. To provide 
competent teachers for carrying on this work in the 
primary schools, the course of the normal schools has 
been organized so as to give regular attention to agri- 
culture, and in order that the teachers already in the 
primary schools may be fitted to conduct the newly es- 
tablished courses of agriculture, special normal schools 
on these subjects are provided, during the vacation 
season. Agriculture in the primary schools consists of 
two lessons a week which are given in accordance with 
a plan outlined by the government, and financial and 
other encouragement is given to those teachers who 
excel in such instruction. Thus far there has been con- 
siderable difficulty in securing teachers having the right 
equipment of knowledge and teaching ability for this 
kind of work. For this reason the success of these 
primary courses of agricultural instruction has been 
quite varied in the different places, and the matter can 
hardly be said to have passed beyond the experimental 
stage. Three of the secondary schools of agriculture 
are already organized. One of these is devoted en- 
tirely to agriculture, while two give instruction both in 
agriculture and horticulture. The oldest of these insti- 



26 instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

tutions is the one at Ghent, having been founded in 
1855. It is thoroughly equipped with faciHties for prac- 
tical and theoretical instruction. Candidates for ad- 
mission must ordinarily be at least sixteen years old, 
and pass an examination in the French or Flemish 
language, natural history, geography, and arithmetic. 
They must also give satisfactory proof that they are 
physically able to regularly carry on the practical work 
required in connection with their studies. The regular 
course occupies three years, and includes instruction in 
trench, Flemish, German, and English languages, 
arithmetic, book-keeping, geometry, geography, botany, 
elementary physics, and chemistry, drawing, agriculture, 
engineering, animal physiology, and production, and 
the theory and practice of agriculture and horticulture. 
Special attention is given to horticulture, which is a 
very important industry in Ghent, as well as elsewhere 
in Belgium. In schools of this grade the effort is made 
to train young men for the practical pursuit of agricul- 
ture or horticulture on a relatively large scale. It is 
expected that they will become managers of estates or 
foremen in horticultural establishments. 

Secondary instruction in agriculture and horticulture 
is also provided for in a number of private schools, 
which are organized with reference to instruction in 
these lines in return for small subsidies. Twenty of 
these private schools of agriculture are now in opera- 
tion in Belgium, an*d are so located as to meet the 
needs of the different agricultural regions. Provision 
is also made by the government for short courses in ag- 
riculture in public and private secondary schools for 
general education. These courses consist of at least 
one lesson a week during the school year, which must 
be given in accordance with the plan laid down by the 
government. Thirty schools in Belgium are at present 
giving such courses. This plan has the advantage of 
providing at least an outline of the theory and prac- 
tice of agriculture at small expense to a considerable 
number of students, who are at the same time, acquir- 
ing an ordinary high school education. Such a course 
awakens their interest in the more scientific and ad~ 
vanced ideas regarding agriculture, and prepares them 
to read with intelligence the reports of agricultural in- 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Scliools. 27 

vestigations. It also tends to make them more con- 
tented with rural life. A school for the theoretical and 
practical instruction of young women in agriculture, 
including dairying, kitchen gardening, domestic econ- 
omy, etc., has been established in each of the provinces 
of Belgium. 

LECTURE COURSES FOR ADULT FARMERS. 

To meet the needs of adult farmers who can not at- 
tend schools, numerous lecture courses on agricultural 
topics have been organized. Each year some 250 
courses of 15 lectures each on questions of general in- 
terest to farmers are given in the different rural dis- 
tricts of Belgium by graduates of the higher agricultural 
schools or other persons who are thoroughly competent 
for this kind of work. In an article on agricultural 
education in Belgium published in 1893, M. DeVuyst, 
an officer of the Belgium Government whose duty it 
was to supervise these courses, thus writes regarding 
them:- 

" To secure practice in this exceedingly difficult kind of teaching, the 
persons to give these courses meet together twice a year in each district. 
At these meetings one of their number presents a typical lecture and the 
others discuss it. The best lessons in the different courses are printed 
and distributed. At these meetings the improvements which are most ur- 
gently needed by the farmers of the region are also studied. 

"This method of organized courses of instruction in agricultm-e for adults 
is, we believe, peculiar to Belgium. The results it has produced during 
four years are quite important. There are in the Kingdom about 2,500 
rural communes. Within a few years no locality will have reason to com- 
plain it has not enjoyed the advantages of this institution. The courses 
are attended each year by more than 10,000 farmers. The expense of con- 
ducting them amounts to only about $1 per hearer." 

Besides these general courses in agriculture, special 
courses in orchard management, market gardening, 
dairying, animal husbandry, horseshoeing, apiculture, 
etc., are also given, and farmers' meetings of one or two 
days' duration, corresponding somewhat to our farm- 
ers' institutes, are held in different places under the su- 
pervision of government officials. In each of the prov- 
inces there is a state agriculturist and an assistant agri- 
culturist, whose business it is to hold farmers' meetings, 
deliver lectures, establish fields of demonstration in 
which the results of agricultural investigations may be 



28 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

shown on a practical scale, aid the agricultural societies 
in their work, collect agricultural statistics, and prepare 
reports on the agricultural condition of the country. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN RUSSIA. 

Russia sustains sixty-eight agricultural schools, con- 
taining 3,150 pupils, at a cost of $403,500, of which sum 
the government pays $277,500 and the local societies or 
the school founders pay $136,000. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN GERMANY. 

The German system is based on the theory that 
schools and colleges are the only places where theoret- 
ical agriculture can be properly taught. Few ot the 
higher educational schools first established were ex- 
clusively such. A liberal education could be obtained 
at most of them without touching the subject of agri- 
culture. Later educators have developed a system 
which begins by fostering a love for nature in the minds 
of the pupils in the kindergarten, and patiently devel- 
ops that love through all the dozen or more grades of 
schools until it culminates in the polytechnic school or 
the degree granted by the university. The state main- 
tains three grades of agricultural schools, higher, 
middle, and lower, and expends something like $200,000 
annually on agricultural education. 

In Germany agricultural education has so broadened 
out as to include training in every technical part of the 
farmer's work — culture of forests, fruits, flowers, and 
vines; schools to teach wine, cider and beer making, 
machine repairing; engine running, barn construction, 
and surveying; knowledge of poultry, bees, and silk- 
worm raising; domestic economy, sewing and accounts 
for farm women — all in addition to the long scientific 
courses of study and years of practical work on an es- 
tablished farm. 

A special feature of agricultural teaching in Germany, 
is the traveling professor. Former United States Con- 
sul Monaghan, now connected with the School of Com- 
merce of the University, speaks thus of him: — " These 
teachers, supported partly by the state, and by agri- 
cultural unions, go from place to place, and lecture on 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 29 

agricultural and horticultural subjects. Their purpose 
is to lift up and enoble agricultural life; to afford the 
farmer the knowledge gleaned by science since he left 
the school; to impart to him the best methods of select- 
ing soils, fertilizers, cattle, trees, etc.; to teach him how- 
to use his lands to best advantage, to graft, to breed in; 
to get the best, quickest, and most profitable results. 
These teachers are skilled scientists, practical workers, 
not theorists, perfectly familiar with the wants and 
needs of their districts. Armed with this knowledge, 
the teacher's usefulness is certain and unlimited. When 
he speaks his voice is that of one in authority, it is 
heeded. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge, 
especially of knowledge pertaining to the woods, hills, 
farms, and fields." 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN HOLLAND. 

Holland has done little in the way of elememtary 
education in this branch. No success has resulted from 
attempts to introduce agricultural teaching in the pri- 
mary schools. In ]8q7 Holland expended $350,000 on 
its agricultural department, most of which was used in 
maintaining advanced schools. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN SCOTLAND. 

In the public schools of Scotland, agricultural science 
is arranged for as an optional study from the third to 
the sixth grade, inclusive. In 1895-96, 4,148 pupils 
passed examinations in the subject, and the cost of this 
to the state was over $200,000. In 1896 and '97, of the 
pupils in the " Evening Continuation Schools " where 
instruction is given to those who have finished the work 
in the primary schools, 1,089 persons passed the exam- 
ination in agriculture, and 115 others in horticulture. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Agricultural colleges have been established in both 
England and Wales, to give advanced instruction in 
agriculture. In 1898 and '99, grants were made from 
fifteen colleges and associations tor this work, amount- 
ing to over $35,000. Besides this direct government 



30 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

subsidy to higher education, the state grants to the sev- 
eral counties part of the money raised from the excise 
("drink money") for educational purposes, out of 
which more than $375,000 were spent by the commit- 
tees in i8q6-'q7 in promoting agricultural education. 
The state recognizes instruction in the principles of 
agriculture as instruction in elementary science, and 
through grants to primary and secondary schools and 
to teachers' colleges, it encourages agricultural educa- 
tion as a technical study. In i8q6-'q7, 1,023 pupils 
passed examinations in this subject, and the respective 
school managements received as grant on their account, 
a total sum of nearly $700,003. In 1897 the Royal Com- 
mission on "Agricultural Depression in England," de- 
clared in its report: "We believe that it is essential 
for the welfare of agriculture that there should be 
placed within the reach of every young farmer a sound, 
general school education, including such a grounding 
in the elements. of sciences bearing upon agriculture — 
e. g., chemistry, geology, botany, and animal physiol- 
ogy — as will give him an intelligent interest in them 
and familiarize him in their language." 



AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN CANADA. 

In 1872 an effort was made to introduce agricultural 
instruction into the rural schools in the Province of On- 
tario. The work proved a complete failure, because of 
the lack of teachers prepared to give this instruction, 
and for more than twenty-five years the subject dropped 
entirely out of sight. Within the last three years, this 
subject has again come to the front, and at present pro- 
vision is made for teaching the elements of agriculture 
in all the rural schools of the Province. The experi- 
ment is likely to succeed because teachers in these 
schools are now required to have, as a qualification for 
teaching, special training in the elements of agriculture. 
Similar work is being undertaken in other Canadian 
provinces. Ample provision is made for higher educa- 
tion in agricultural subjects throughout the Dominion. 



InstrucUon in Agriculture in the Public Scliools. 31 



AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 

But little has been attempted in the other countries 
of the world in the way of elementary instruction in 
ajrriculture. but institutions are being opened furnish- 
ing facilities for advanced instruction and agricultural 
research. Such institutions have been organized in 
Hindustan, in New Zealand, in Queensland, in South 
Australia, in Victoria, in New South Wales, in Cape 
Colony, in South Africa, in Uruguay, in Chili, in Egypt, 
and in Japan. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 

In addition to the work of the Department of Agri- 
culture, agricultural colleges have been established in 
most states of the Union. Elementary instruction in 
agriculture has hardly made a beginning in this coun- 
try. At the present time an interesting experiment is 
being carried on in the state of New York, under the 
auspices of the Agricultural Department of Cornell 
University, by introducing nature study into the public 
schools of the state. Nearly $20,000 appropriated by 
the state is expended annually in this effort. 1 he plan 
of work is the most systematic yet attempted in the 
United States, and will undoubtedly produce practical 
results in awakening an interest in the possibilities of 
agricultural life. The one drawback to its complete 
success is the lack of teachers trained to do the work 
intelligently and thoroughly. 

In Missouri the question of elementary instruction in 
agriculture is attracting a large amount of attention 
and the state universitv at its summer session last year, 
offered courses of instruction for teachers of rural 
schools in the elements of agriculture. A large num- 
ber of teachers were in attendance and evinced a deep 
interest in the work done. A well organized movement 
is on foot to make this subject a part of the common 
school course in that state. 

In Illinois and Minnesota the subject is being dis- 
cussed by educational men, and in the near future it is 
likely that a definite effort will be made to provide for 
instruction in this subject in the common schools. 



32 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

In other states the subject is rapidly coming to the 
front, and is being discussed in farmers' institutes, and 
in meetings of those interested in the general subject of 
agriculture. 

I have not attempted in this survey of the field, to pre- 
sent the scope and character of work in the higher edu- 
cational institutions devoted to agriculture. It appears 
that in every case the work in this subject has begun 
with the establishment of this class of institutions, and 
as interest has developed, and people have come to un- 
derstand the possibility and necessity of applying scien- 
tific principles in the art of agriculture, the demand has 
come for an extension of the work so as to reach a much 
larger number through the elementary schools. The 
experiments in Canada, Ireland, England, and France 
in carrying this subject into the primary schools, or 
schools ot the same grade as our country district schools, 
seem to indicate that but little can be dene in this direc- 
tion tor two reasons, first, because of the immaturity of 
the pupils, and second, because of the lack of properly 
trained teachers. The first obj ^xtion can not be over- 
com.e, the second may be, to a considerable extent. 
Whatever can be done to overcome this objection 
through better training of teachers for this work in the 
normal schools, in county training schools, and in teach- 
ers' institutes, should be done. As already indicated, 
work in this direction has been begun in some of the 
normal schools, is being carried on in the county train- 
ing schools, and also in the teachers' institutes. There 
is every reason to believe that in these three fields the 
work will be steadily strengthened. A statutory require- 
ment that in order to secure a third grade certificate, 
teachers should pass a satisfactory examination in the 
elements of agriculture, after due notice being given, 
would awaken an interest in this matter on the part of 
teachers, would enable those in charge of the insti- 
tutes to secure better results in this subject, and would 
result in the introduction of the instruction into many 
of the common schools. To require the teaching of this 
subject by law in all the district schools of the state, 
would under existing conditions, in my judgment, be a 
grave mistake. Public interest must be aroused, a sen- 
timent created, which shall demand this instruction, and 



Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 33 

demand the preparation of teachers for giving- it. It 
will then come in a natural way, and in no other way 
can it be made a success. 

Following what has been the historical development 
of agricultural education in other countries, there can 
be no question as to the ciesirability of organizing a dis- 
tinct class of schools not now existing in this state, de- 
signed primarily to fill a gap in the educational facilities 
offered to the country boys and girls in our present 
system. These schools should fill the place in our sys- 
tem which the elementary schools of agriculture have 
so adeauately filled in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Den- 
mark, Switzerland, Belgium, and France. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

I recommend that the present law relating to the 
qualifications of teachers be so amended as to require 
an examination in the Elements of Agriculture in ad- 
dition to the other subjects upon which an examination 
is required for a third grade certificate. 

I recommend further, that through legislative action, 
authority be given to county boards of supervisors to 
establish and maintain schools to be known as County 
Schools for Instruction in Agriculture and Domestic 
Economy, and that state aid be given to these schools 
when organized and established on a basis to be ap- 
proved by state authority. The amount of state aid 
should be at least one-half the sum actually expended 
for purposes of instruction in such school. While the 
county should be made the unit as the basis of organiza- 
tion, pupils from other counties should be allowed to 
enter such schools until their full capacity is reached, 
on payment of tuition. This school should be open to 
boys and girls upon completion of the common school 
course of study in the district schools. 

COURSE OF STUDY IN AGRICULTURE AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY 
FOR THE PROPOSED SCHOOLS. 

In a bulletin issued last year from the office of the 
state superintendent, the question of what might prop- 
erly be attempted in this class of schools was fully dis' 
cussed. I quote from that bulletin: 
3 



34 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

"Without attempting to go into detail, it seems en- 
tirely reasonable to assume that instruction may be 
given profitably in schools of the class just suggested, 
in the following subjects: 

T/ie So?'/. 

Plant Life. 

Animal Life. 

Econouiics oj Ag'riculture. 

Manual Training. 

Domestic Economy. 

In dealing with the first topic, The Soil, consideration 
should be given to its composition, modes of cultiva- 
tion, fertilization, drainage, effect of rotation of crops 
upon the soil, means of restoring worn out soil to con- 
dition of fertility, and the adaptation of different soils to 
different classes of products. 

Under the second topic, Pla^it Lif, there should be a 
consideration of the various forms of cultivated plants, 
including a knowledge of best varieties tor local culti- 
vation; germination; modes of growth; modes of har- 
vesting, care for after harvesting, effect upon soil; eco- 
nomic values lor marketing, for feeding and for fer- 
tilization. For the boy who is to be a farmer, or the 
girl who is to be a farmer's wife, and possibly for any 
other boy or girl, the botany of the corn plants, the 
modes of growth of other forms of plant life on the 
farm, if properly taugh-t, may prove at least of as much 
value as the study of mosses, or other forms of plant 
life upon which much time is now spent in the field of 
botanical instruction. This study would be for him a 
matter of practical utility, and would give him knowl- 
edge that would awaken an interest in the growth of ag- 
ricultural products, resulting in more intelligent cultiva- 
tion, better adaptation of crops to soil, and better finan- 
cial returns. 

Treatment of the third topic, Animal Lije, should 
provide for a study of the domestic animals grown for 
pleasure or profit, including a knowledge of breeds and 
breeding; feeding; judging; care, including the preven- 
tion and treatment of the diseases of domestic animals; 
preparation for marketing either the animals or their 
products; and such knowledge of animal pests, and of 
the modes of treatment for the prevention of their rav- 



Instruclion in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 35 

ages, thus far discovered, as would enable the farmer 
to save many a crop which otherwise might be ruined. 
Might not such knowledge be so organized and taught 
as to be of at least as great value, both for knowledge 
and for training, as the study of the tadpole, the cray- 
fish, and the angle-worm? 

In treating the fourth topic, T/ie Economics of Agri- 
cnltiirc, study should be made of the relations of the 
farmers to general industrial and commercial organiza- 
tions, of the economics of farm life, includiiTg a prac- 
tical system of domestic accounting, which would en- 
able him to tell with the same accuracy that the manu- 
facturer tells, the cost of any given product during any 
given period of time. 

Under the fifth topic, Mamial Training, instruction 
could profitably be given in woodworking, not only for 
the purposes of hand and eye training, but for the prac- 
tical knowledge and skill resulting from such training, 
and which would be of value to him as a farmer. To this 
might be added elementary instruction in blacksmith- 
ing, which would enable him to make any of the simple 
repairs of tools at home, that otherwise he would be 
compelled to have done at a distance from his own 
home, and with considerable expenditure of time and 
money. 

Under the general subject. Domestic Economy, in- 
struction could be given in sewing, including dress 
making and millinery work, which certainly would be 
of value to the- girls who are either to perform these 
lines of work for themselves, or to supervise that work 
when done for them by others. It would not only de- 
velop skill, but would cultivate the taste, and develop a 
knowledge of the difficulties incident to such work 
which would make them more considerate of those who 
might be in their employ, or under their supervision. 

In cooking, a course of instruction might properly be 
given which should include a knowledge of the con- 
stituent elements of food products, and their value for 
definite purposes, which would enable them to con- 
struct for the animal, man, a balanced ration. For all. 
concerned this is perhaps as important as the determi- 
nation of a balanced ration for the cow or the hog. It 
should also include a knowledge of invalid cooking, 



q 



6 Instruction in Agriculture in Uic Public Schools. 



which would enable them to know what are proper foods 
for invalids and how to prepare such food. Such a 
course of training would develop economy and skill in 
the choice and preparation of food which would not 
only result in the saving of money, but in the better 
physical, mental, and moral condition of those fed. 'J'o 
this might be added practical instruction in the different 
details of housekeeping which would add much to the 
appearance, pleasure and comfort of the home. 

In horticulture and floriculture, instruction might be 
ffiven which would be of value to both girls and bovs in 
the matter of aciornment and beautifying of the home 
surroundings. 

For the work on the soil, on plant life, and animal 
life, and in cooking, a knowledge of essential scientific 
principles and their application would be necessary. 
It would not be necessary, even though it were desir- 
able, to give extended courses in geology, botany, 
zoology, physics, and chemistry in order to place this 
instruction on a rational, scientific basis. For the 
teacher, it would be essential that he decide what is to 
be taught in any one of these branches, and then to de- 
cide what knowledge of science is necessary in order 
that the desired instruction may be properly given. 

It must be apparent that in this report it would be 
entirely improper to attempt to go into detail as to the 
precise things which should be taught in each of these 
subjects. The only question is, do these subjects, taken 
together, contain a body of knowledge of high utility to 
the country boy and girl, and which may be taught to 
them. I have already indicated my belief that these 
subjects do embrace such a" body of knowledge, and that 
under proper conditions that knowledge may be taught. 

WILL THIS BODY OF KNOWLEDGE IF TAUGHT, AND THE 
TRAINING COMING WITH THE MASTERY OF IT, BE OF 
GREATER PRACTICAL VALUE TO THESE PUPILS THAN ANY 
OTHER BODY OF KNOWLEDGE, AND ACCOMPANYING 
TRAINING WHICH COULD BE GIVEN DURING THE SAME 
TIME. 

This question is one which it seems to me needs but 
little discussion. It is a body of knowledge which di- 
rectly concerns these people in their subsequent voca- 



tnstruction in Agriculture in the Puhlic Schools. 37 

tions. It is a kind of knowledo^e which is essential to- 
day for success in those vocations. It is a kind of 
knowledge, both in scope and character, which will 
rarely be obtained by the individual unless obtained in 
the school. Is there any other body of knowledge 
which could be substituted for it, and which would be 
of higher utility to these people for all the practical, 
purposes of life? .If there be such another body of 
knowledge, I do not know what it is. I am thoroughly 
convinced that it is not the body ot knowledge that 
these young people now get, even the few of them who 
complete the work of the secondary schools. Will the 
effort put forth in acquiring this knowledge result in 
training as valuable as the training resulting from the 
acquisition of a body of knowledge of less practical 
value? I am one of those people who believe that 
knowledge may be valuable in itself and that its acqui- 
sition may furnish the highest kind of training; that 
the student who spends time anywhere in any grade of 
school in acquiring knowledge of value only for train- 
ing, when he might acquire knowledge valuable for 
other purposes, and equally valuable for training, is 
wastmg his time and energy. A five-dollar gold piece has 
a certain definite value, but the individual who would ac- 
cept a five-dollar gold piece when he had his option 
either to take that or a ten-dollar gold piece, would 
be a fool. The essence of training is doing. In nearly 
everyone of these lines of work suggested, the student 
is brought into direct contact with things, is trained to 
study them and their relations to each other, to him- 
self, and to other things; he would furthermore be con- 
stantly employed in dealing with these things, and not 
with words. He would be required to see something, 
and to do something at every stage of his work, and 
the seeing and doing would be guided by thoughtful 
consideration of means and ends. This training, while 
it would be general in its scope would, at the same time, 
be specific in nature as well; as it would develop skill 
along the lines where skill would be needed in his sub- 
sequent work. Do not these conditions furnish the best 
possible elements, both for the training of the mental 
and ph}'3ical activities of the individual? . 



38 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

One of the chief purposes in education should be to 
develop interests, and one of the very necessary out- 
comes of such a course of training would be to develop 
an intelligent interest in the activities incident to rural 
life. 

ADDITIONAL WORK TO BE OFFERED IN THESE COUNTY 

SCHOOLS. 

In addition to the work already suggested, there 
should be given such instruction in language, mathe- 
matics, history, and literature as maybe carried on in 
connection with the other work. Such a school should 
have in connection with it, a small tract of land, to be 
used for illustrative and experimental purposes: not 
the line of experiments which the Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station undertakes, but a more simple line, which 
could be carried on under the direction of the teachers, 
and which would be of value for obse'rvation and train- 
ing purposes. The length of the course offered in 
these schools should not be less than two years. Special 
courses should be offered to meet the needs of the 
older boys in the county, who may have been out of 
school for two or three years, but who could attend 
during the winter months wqth advantage. 

Such a school centrally located in a county, would 
furnish an opportunity for attendance by residents of the 
county at a very moderate expense. Many of the pu- 
pils could board at their own homes, while others could 
board themselves, returning home on Friday night to 
remain over Sunday. 

The school would necessarily have to be equipped 
with such simple laboratory apparatus as wouldbe neces- 
sary for the experimental work in science. It would 
need a well selected library of books on agriculture 
and domestic economy and should be supplied with the 
best periodical literature pertaining to those subjects. 
It could be made a distributing center for the county, 
of the bulletins sent out from the agricultural colleges, 
and if effort were made to interest pupils in such 
of these bullitins as came within the range; of their com- 
prehension, they in turn would interest their parents in 
them. The result would be that where one such bulle- 



instniction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 39 

tin is now read in a community, ten would then be read, 
and with greater interest and more intelligence. Such a 
school would also be a center for meetings of farmers 
for discussion upon agricultural subjects. When a 
number of such schools were established, professors 
could be sent out from the agricultural college, going 
from one to another, remaining a sufficient time at each 
to give instruction not only to the students, but to farm- 
ers who might care to attend, in various subjects 
which could not be taken up in the school itself. The 
dairy industry, for instance, would furnish an excellent 
field for such work. The example of Denmark and 
Germany furnishes an excellent illustration of the value 
of such traveling professors. 

It is needless to say that for the successful operation 
of such. a school, it would be necessary to secure teach- 
ers specially trained for such work, and of the very 
highest order. The head of the school should be a man 
acquainted with farm life, trained as a teacher, one who 
had had experience in teaching, and added to this, a 
thorougli training in the best institutions devoted to 
agricultural instruction. He must be a man who would 
command the respect and confidence of the farming 
community, able to adapt himself to conditions about 
him, and one who would be able to speak with authority 
upon all matters of practical and theoretical agricul- 
ture. He would need two assistants, a man to take 
charge of the work in manual training, and a woman 
to take charge of the work in domestic economy. 
These three teachers would be able to carry on all the 
different lines of work in a school of ordinary size. 
With such a school as this organized in a county, it 
would be possible through its teaching force, to organ- 
ize the work in nature study in the district schools. 
During the summer vacation, these teachers could as- 
sist m the teachers' institute to be held in the county, 
giving instruction in this subject. They could present 
and give instruction in a plan of work to be carried out 
in the country schools of the county during the year, 
and in co-operation with the county superintendent, 
could meet these teachers at different times during the 
year, to hear their reports of progress, and of difficul- 
ties encountered, and to aid them by suggestion and 



40 Instruction in Agriculture in the Public Schools. 

instruction. In this way it would be possible to carry 
the 'work from the higher school into the lower schools, 
with successful results. 

PRELIMINARY WORK NEEDED. 

Should the legislature see fit to authorize the estab- 
lishment of such schools, a large amount of preliminary 
work would be necessary before their organization could 
be successfully completed, At the present time, there 
are almost no text books adapted to the course of in- 
struction in agriculture outlined for these schools. The 
body of knowledge to be taught in such schools would 
have to be selected, put into proper form, and organ- 
ized, in order to make the work a success. As soon as 
it became apparent that schools of this class were to find 
a place in our educational system, men competent to do 
this work would be found ready to undertake it, but 
until it becomes evident that there will be a demand 
for the class of text books necessary for use, few com- 
petent men will care to undertake their preparation. 
To begin the work some provision should be made for 
at least a tentative preparation and organization of the 
matter selected for instruction. 

Still another line of work would of necessity have to 
be undertaken, that of awakening an interest on the 
part of farmers in any given community which would 
result in a demand upon the county board, for such a 
school. Its advantages must be explained to them, and 
made clear, and appreciated, before success can be 
hoped for. 

I believe the foregoing plan is a feasible one, that it 
V7ill command the support of the people most interested 
■ — the farmers, that it will show tangible results early, 
and that as the system is extended, it will awaken the 
intelligence of the community where the schools may 
be, and arouse an interest in the matters pertaining to 
farm life, which will give us better trained and more 
successful farmers, as well as better trained men and 
women and better citizens. 



Manual Training in the Public Sdioots. 41 



REPORT ON MANUAL TRAINING. 



MANUAL TRAINING IN GRADES BELOW THE HIGH SCHOOL. 

The growth of public sentiment in favor of making 
manual training a part of the public school course, in 
the United States, is shown by the report of the United 
States Commissioner of Education for the year 1897- 
'98. That report shows that in 1890 there were ^y cities 
of 8,000 population and over in v/hose public schools 
manual training other than drawing was taught; in 1894 
there were 93 cities; in 1896 there were 121 cities, and 
in 1898 there were 146 cities. 

For the same year there were 114 manual or indus- 
trial training schools, an increase of 15 over the preced- 
ing year. Of the 1 14 schools, 24 were industrial schools 
for Indian children. In the 90 manual and industrial 
training schools, other than Indian schools, there were 
employed 673 teachers, 384 men and 289 women. In 
the same schools there were 25,893 pupils, i6,-:i47 boys 
and 9,446 girls. The total expenditure for manual and 
industrial training by 86 of the 114 schools reporting 
was $655,247. Of this amount $440,572 was paid teach- 
ers, $93,058 for materials, $36,508 for tools and repairs, 
and $85,109 for incidentals and for items not classified. 

No statistics are given showing the expenditure for 
manual training in the 146 cities which reported this 
work as being carried on. Of these cities, sixteen re- 
port work as being begun in the first grade, and carried 
on through the eighth grade; four report the work as 
beginning in the second grade; three in the third; five 
in the fourth; fourteen in the fifth; fifteen in the sixth; 
thirty-one in the seventh; eight in the eighth, and in 
the remainder the work is begun in the high school. 



4^ Manual Training in the Public S.choots. 

In Wisconsin there were last year nine cities which 
carried on manual training in the high school. In one 
of these the work was extended to the eighth grade, 
and in two, throughout the grades. It thus appears 
that in Wisconsin but little progress has been made to- 
ward the introduction of manual training elsewhere 
than in the high school. 

Correspondence and personal conferences with teach- 
ers and members of school boards, and prominent citi- 
zens in many of the cities of the state, reveal the fact 
that at the present time there is a large amount of in- 
terest in the subject of manual training. There is a 
steadily growing belief that if manual training has the 
educational value claimed for it, it should find a place 
earlier in the course, and should not be postponed until 
the high school course, when seven-eighths of the pupils 
have left the public schools. The fact that manual 
training has secured its first foothold in the high schools 
rather than in the lower grades, is no justification for such 
a condition from an educational standpoint. It was put 
there for other than educational reasons. 

First, because it was easy to incorporate into the high 
school course the work which had been developed and 
organized for the pure manual training schools. The 
problem of manual training in the grades had not been 
worked out as thoroughly as for pupils in the high 
school stage. 

Second, it was easier to interest the public in a propo- 
sition to connect this work with the high school than to 
make it available for pupils of all grades. The latter 
proposition seemed to be too large an undertaking for 
many communities, and especially for those having no 
experience in this line of work. 

Third, it was easier to construct a high school course 
carrying manual training, than to reorganize the course 
of instruction in the grades so as to make a place for 
it. 

Fourth, there has been a too prevalent idea that man- 
ual training was to be carried on for industrial purposes, 
rather than for educational purposes, and that there- 
fore it should come at a time when pupils were seeking 
preparation for commencement in some vocation. 

In later years the idea long held by intelligent advo- 
cates of manual training, that its value is primarily an 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 43 

educational one, rather than industrial, has come to be 
accepted by large numbers of people who have been 
giving the subject some consideration. It is now gener- 
ally recognized that its value is twofold, primarily for 
educational purposes, and secondarily for industrial 
ends, 

THE VALUE AND PLACE OF MANUAL TRAINING FOR EDU- 
CATIONAL PURPOSES. 

Members of society may be roughly classed into four 
groups; those who think without doing; those who do 
without thinking; those who neither think nor do; and 
those who tJiink, and do because of their thinking. 
The fourth class comprises the productive, constructive, 
organizing element of society. It is the function of the 
public schools to produce members of this fourth class, 
it must be evident to all that for the production of a 
thinking and doing individual, the two forms of activity 
should be carried on side by side; the doing growing 
out of the thinking, the thinking made clear and defi- 
nite through the doing. The fact so often stated, that 
the leaders in industrial, commercial, and professional 
fields of activity come largely from the country, does 
not prove as is frequently claimed, that the training of 
the country schools is better than that afforded in the 
cities, but rather that the necessities of country life 
have from the earliest period of the child's activity, de- 
manded of him physical action for definite ends, deter- 
mined by mental activity toward the same end. The 
menta' training afforded by the course of instruction in 
our public schools, should not be underestimated, even 
though it be proved that this training has come almost 
exclusively from a study of books rather than from a 
judicious combination ot the study of books and things. 
Our error has been that we have too long held the 
notion that mental development is secured in no other 
way than through a study of books. 

Mental power comes through organized thinking. 
The mere memorizing of what others have said, or 
learning about what others have done, is not organized 
thinking, and gives little or no mental training. Or- 
ganized thinking comes whenever the individual sets 
himself a definite task to do; and then determines and 



44 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

applies the ways and means necessary for the accom- 
plishment of that task. This task may be the solution of 
a problem in arithmetic, or it may be the construction 
from pieces of shingle of a water-wheel to be turned by 
the brook. T believe the latter to be of the higher value 
because it demands the use of tools and material. The 
tools cannot be used successfully upon the material to 
produce the desired result, without the exercise of the 
closest attention and of the judgment in their use. There 
can be no training of the hand which does not involve 
mental activity, and the mental activity thus involved is 
of a kind which furnishes just the training needed for 
the practical concerns of life. It is a mental activity 
out of which grows skill in doing, and skill in doing as 
a result of intelligent thinking should be one of the 
chief purposes of education. 

It is the ambition of every boy at a very early age, to 
become the owner of a pocket knife. The reason for 
this is that the pocket knife is the tool which for him 
furnishes the largest opporiunities for the exercise ot 
his inherent desire to do. No one thinks of denying 
him the pocket knife because of the fear that its use 
will compel him to become a mere whittler; but on 
the contrary, the thoughtful parent will furnish it be- 
cause of its value as an instrument in the training of 
the child's manual and mental powers. 

Because in the manual training school the child learns 
to use a plane, or a saw, it does not follow that he is to 
be a carpenter. Because the girl learns to sew, that 
she must be a seamstress, or because she learns the value 
of foods and how to prepare them, that she must there- 
fore be a cook. The use of the plane and the saw will 
be of value to the boy should he decide to become a 
carpenter. The training in sewing and cooking will be 
of value to the girl should she decide to become a seam- 
stress or a cook, or should she be compelled to take 
the place of either seamstress or cook, even tempo- 
rarily. But in any case, the training thus afforded will 
be of the highest value in the development of the indi- 
vidual because it demands first, concentration of atten- 
tion, and thus develops that quality so essential to suc- 
cess in any field of human endeavor. Second, it re- 
quires organized thinking in the adaptation of means to 
ends, a demand which will be constant through life; and 



Manual Training in the Public Scliools. 45 

third it demands an exercise of the will power result- 
ing in doing for the realization of those ends, and 
through the doing, there comes a clarification of the 
thinking. It is not claimed that this sort of training 
and the knowledge and the skill which it brings, con- 
stitute all that is necessary in the education of the child, 
but the claim is made, and well made, that any system 
of education which leaves out ihis kind of training 
omits one of the essential requisites in the proper ed- 
ucation of the child. 

I believe that any one who will analyze closely the 
mental processes involved in the mastery of a lesson in- 
grammar, in history, in geography, or in any of the 
branches taught in the public school, and compare 
them with the mental processes involved in making a 
working drawing of a model in wood, and then from 
that drawing, by the use of tools, reproducing the model, 
will see that for all purposes of mental training the latter 
is of no less value, to say the least, than the former. It 
has the added value in that it has developed control of 
the hand, and skill in its use, which will be of value in 
other fields of work where manual skill is required. 
More than this, if this work be done during school 
hours, it gives a change of position, a change of interest, 
and physical exercise which will send the pupil back to 
his purely mental tasks refreshed and invigorated, and 
able to accomplish more in the next half hour, than he 
would have been able to do in that half hour and in all 
the time given to the manual training exercise taken 
together. 

If what has been said thus far is true, it must be evi- 
dent that this work should be begun early in the school 
course, and adapted to the needs of the child at every 
stage in his development. To shut up the child from 
six to twelve years of age in a school room for six hours 
a day, and to compel him during that time to devote 
himself to a study of books, is little short of cruelty. 
It i's the period of his life when the impulse toward 
physical activity is the strongest, and here at least na- 
ture has made no mistake. It is in the school system 
which denies the opportunities for the exercise of that 



4G Manual Training in the Puhlic Scliools. 

impulse that the mistake has been made. Manual 
training during this period furnishes an opportunity 
for the exercise of this physical impulse and at the 
same time directs and controls its activity for educa- 
tional ends. 



THE YALUE OF MANUAL TRAINING FROM THE INDUSTRIAL 

STANDPOINT. 

Less than three hundred years ago, the territory 
which is now known as the United States was an un- 
broken wilderness. When we contrast the condition 
then with that of to-day and analyze the elements which, 
have entered into the solution of the problem, we 
shall be struck by the fact that the conditions existing 
to-day are due primarily to thinking, and this will em- 
phasize to us the value of an education which trains 
the thinking powers. We shall also be struck by 
the further thought that no step forward could be made 
toward the subjugation of this wilderness, and fitting it 
for the abode of man. no matter how much thinking 
were done, until the combined activities of hand and 
eye were brought into action to make the thinking 
serviceable for man's uses. We shall be further struck 
by the thought that when the hands have put into form 
the results of men's thinking, every new form becomes 
the starting point for a new process of thinking, result- 
ing in higher ideals and more perfect adaptation of the 
forces of nature to man's uses, but which again could 
be realized only through tlie work of the hand. Thus 
thinking gives occassion for doing, doing invites and 
compels additional thinking, and this again further do- 
ing. 

Mr. Hodge, the Secretary of the International 
Committee of the Y. M. C. A., after careful study of 
statistics relating to the subject of the educational 
preparation made by the young men of the United 
States, between the ages of sixteen and thirty-five, re- 
ports as follows: "Of thirteen million young men in 
the United States between these ages only five in every 
one hundred have been specially prepared for their oc- 
cupations by education received at some kind of a 
school." He also found that of every one hundred 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 47 

graduates of our grammar schools, only eight obtain 
their livelihood by means of the professions and com- 
mercial business, while the remaining ninety-two support 
themselves and their families by means of their hands. 
If the statistics are correct, and ^n examination into 
conditions existing in any community will seem to sub- 
stantiate them, it must be evident that the education 
given in the grades below the high school, which does 
not make provision for some training of the hand and 
eye, as well as of the brain, is failing to do for these 
children what they have a right to demand shall be 
done for them, and what society has the highest in- 
terest in demanding shall be done for them. 

If ninety-two out of every hundred children in the 
grades are to earn their living by their hands, does it 
not seem that the educational system is out of joint 
which fails to give them during the most impression- 
able and formative period of their lives, such training 
as will fit them the earlier to become skilled in what- 
ever department of manual labor they may engage, and 
thus to make them more productive members of society, 
as well as more self-respecting ? It is true that manual 
training dignifies labor, and gives to those who engage 
in it a respect for work as well as a habit of work, and 
an interest in their work. 

One of the large purposes of the public school is to 
create wholesome interests. In what better field can 
one's interests be awakened than in this field which 
recognizes doing as of equal importance with thinking, 
and of infinitely more importance than idle dreaming ? 

This training both from an educational and from an 
industrial standpoint is of no less importance for girls, 
than for boys. The great mass of girls, as well as of 
boys, will find their life work in the labor of their hands. 
Whatever value educationally this training may have 
for the boy, it has also, for the girl. While the girl 
may not, to the same extent as the boy, become a wage 
earner, in the discharge of her functions as a hom.e- 
maker she will find constant demands upon her not only 
for thinking, but for doing as well. Under present con- 
ditions, the girl has not the same opportunities for that 
training in her own home which will fit her for later 
responsibilities that she formerly had. The length of 
the school year has been steadily increasing until at the. 



48 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

present time she is constantly in school for nine to ten 
months in the year. The demands which the school 
make upon her are so great that what little time and en- 
ergy are left for learning the household arts in the 
home, even granting that conditions are such as to ren- 
der that learning possible, are inadequate for the pur- 
pose. Such systematic training in these arts as is now 
given in many localities, and can be given in any school 
system, would make her more independent and more 
useful as a member of society, and would result in se- 
curing better conditions in her future home than are 
likely to exist without such training. The family would 
be better fed, and more economically fed, the home 
would be furnished with more taste and without greater 
expense, and she and her children dressed with better 
taste, and without greater cost, than would be possible 
without such training. 



DEVELOPMENT OF MANUAL TRAINING IN 
THE SCHOOLS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

FINLAND. 

Within the present century, Finland was the first 
country to give a recognized place in the curriculum of 
its primary schools, to wood work and other manual 
exercise. In 1866, instruction in some branch of man- 
ual work such as wood work, basket work, tin work or 
iron work, was made compulsory in the Training Col- 
leges for male teachers, and in all primary schools for 
boys in country districts. 

NORWAY. 

In Norway this branch of school work was first recog- 
nized in the offical program in i860. It is only within 
recent years that much attention has been given to the 
usefulness of a system of manual exercises as a branch 
of general pi'imary education. Since 1891 it has been 
compulsory in all Norwegian Training Colleges and 
town schools. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 49 



SWEDEN. 

In Sweden the movement for manual work in the 
schools was at first an effort to revive the old Swedish 
tradition of domestic industry. The failure of the early 
schools of domestic industry coupled with the ex- 
perience of Finland, led the Swedish authorities to en- 
courage the strictly educational side of the work, and to 
connect it under the name of Sloyd, with the elemen- 
tary school curriculum. 

In 1875, the well known training school for teachers 
in Sloyd, at Naas, was established by a local land 
owner, Herr Abrahamson. The work of this training 
school which for years has been under the direction of 
Herr Otto Salomon, has been one of the most import- 
ant agencies in disseminating throughout northern Eu- 
rope a knowledge of the theory and practice of wood 
work as a branch of the work of the primary schools. 
It is stated that twenty-four hundred teachers of Sloyd 
(including six hundred foreigners) , had been trained 
in this school down to 1896. 

In i8q6, instruction in Sloyd wood work was given in 
two thousand schools in Sweden, and in all the seven 
training colleges of that country. 



HOLLAND. 

Since i8qi. manual school work has been a compul- 
sory subject in the training colleges for men. There 
are also courses to enable older teachers to acquire 
skill in giving instruction in manual work. 

BELGIUM, 

Instruction in manual work such as wood work, is 
given in many of the Belgian training colleges, but the 
subject is not obligatory either in the training colleges 
or in the schools. In many districts, however, advan- 
tage has been taken of the law of 1884, which empow- 
ers local authorities to introduce manual work as a 
school subject. 

4 • 



50 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 



AUSTRIA. 

Since 1883, this subject has been recognized as an 
optional branch of school work in Austrian, town 
schools. Of late years special attention has been giv- 
en to it in Vienna. 

GERMANY. 

In Germany there is in progress a movement for the 
introduction of wood work and other manual exercises 
as a part of primary education. This movement is in- 
spired by the educational idea, rather than the indus- 
trial, and is steadily gaining ground. Its claim for state 
aid has been recognized. The governments of Prussia, 
Saxony, and Baden now make state contributions in 
aid of this branch of school work. 

In 1898, manual exercises of various kinds had been 
introduced into six hundred schools in Germany. Wood 
work was taught in three hundred schools, metal work 
in forty-three, card board work in four hundred sixty- 
three. In many of the German training colleges, pro- 
vision is now made for training teachers to give in- 
struction in these and similar subjects. 

SWITZERLAND. 

Of the twenty-five Swiss Cantons, nineteen have made 
provision for wood work and other manual exercises in 
school. The expenses are borne to a large extent by 
public funds. The Federal government bears the whole 
expense incurred by the traming colleges, in the special 
training of teachers for this department of school work. 

FRANCE. 

In 1882, a law was passed making manual work such 
as wood work, involving the use of the principal tools 
obligatory in the elementary schools of France. Al- 
though the enactment was a compulsorv one, nothing 
seems to have been done for the special training of the 
teachers, and as a result, the carrying out of such an en- 
actment was a matter of absolute impossibility. The 
experience of France in this matter illustrates the futil- 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. HI. 

ity of making compulsory laws for the teaching- of sub- 
jects in the schools, without making provision for the 
training of teachers, where special training is a neces- 
sity. In Paris, a program admirably arranged on edu- 
cational lines is in operation in the city schools, but 
outside of this city the law seems to a large extent to 
have remained a dead letter. 

ENGLAND. 

In England the introduction of educational hand work 
of any kind in classes outside the kindergarten depart- 
ment, was hrst authorized by the state in 1890, when 
wood work was recognized as a school subject in the 
upper intermediate and grammar grades. In the larger 
cities considerable progress has been made, not only in 
the introduction of paper and card board work, clay 
modeling and wood 'work, but also in sewing, cooking, 
and laundry work. 

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION AIM'OINTED BY 
THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND IN iSq7, TO DETER- 
MINE HOW FAR AND IK WHAT FORM, MANUAL AND PRAC- 
TICAL INSTRUCTION SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE EDUCA- 
TIONAL SYSTEM OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS UNDER THE 
BOARD OF NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND. 

This commission was composed of fourteen of the 
most eminent men in Ireland, and continued its investi- 
gations for two years. The commission held ninety- 
three meetings of which fifty-seven were sittings for re- 
ceiving evidence. They took the evidence of one hun- 
dred and eighty-six persons qualified to give informa- 
tion on matters under consideration, and visited one 
hundred and nineteen schools where manual and prac- 
tical instruction were being given. Germany, France, 
Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium as well as England, 
and Scotland, were visited by members of the commis- 
sion for the purpose of making personal investigation 
of the work being done in these countries. 

The investigation made by this commission is prob- 
ably the most thorough and exhaustive ever under- 



52 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

taken. For that reason considerable space is taken in 
this report for a statement of their conclusions. As a 
result of their investigations, the commission reported 
as follows: 

" We recommend that a course of woodwork, based on the lines of the 
Swedish system, with such modifications as the experience of other coun- 
tries, especially of England and of Scotland, has shown to be useful, 
should at once be introduced into the program of the National Education 
Board. It will obviously be necessary for the board in this case, as in the 
case of the hand and eye training courses, to secure the services of compe- 
tent organizers having practical experience in the work. 

"We do not consider that woodwork should be made a compulsory sub- 
ject. As to this, we direct attention to the evidence given by Herr Salo- 
mon. It is his opinion that one reason of the great aud growing success 
of the Sloyd movement in Sweden is that in that country the subject has 
from the beginning been treated as an optional one He gives some in- 
teresting figures. Sloyd was first introduced into the Swedish school pro- 
gramme in 1877. In the next year, the number of schools in which it was 
taught was 103. Nine years afterwards, in 1837, the number was 991. 
Seven years later, in 1891, it had grown to 1,887, or very nearly one-half of 
the total number of schools in Sweden. In 1895, a different method of 
distributing the grant for Sloyd tsaching was adopted, the new unit of 
distribution being, not a school, but a " division," each division being a 
class of from 10 to 15 pupils. In that year grants were paid for 2,48.3 such 
classes. By way of contrast, Herr Salomon points to the cases of France 
and Norway, where the mistake was made of introducing woodwork as a 
compulsory subject. 'The result,' he says, ' has been unsuccessful. If 
the subject be introduced on a small scale, it will grow; our experience in 
Sweden has shown that if we begin with small arrangements, they will 
grow more and more.' 

"So far from suggesting that the subject be made compulsory in Ireland, 
we are strongly of opinion, for reasons similar to those stated by us in ref- 
erence to the hand and eye training courses that care should be taken by 
the National Education Board to hinder its being taken up by any but 
really competent teachers." 

" We recommend that provision should at once be made for the introduc- 
tion of courses of Hand and Eye Training in the Irish National Schools." 
(By Hand and Eye Training is meant paper cutting, folding, card board 
work, and clay modeling, accompanied by drawing.) " Such exercises ob- 
viously have special utility in forming a natural link between kindergar- 
ten occupations in the infants' classes, and exercises such as those in wood- 
work, in the higher classes in the school. But we consider that their value 
is practically independent of this, and that they may be introduced with 
great ad vantage in to schools where, from any cause, they may neither have 
been preceded by the kindergarten occupations, on the one hand, nor be fol- 
lowed by moi-e highly developed Manual Instruction, such as that in wood- 
work, on the other." 

" As regards the amount of time to be allowed to the exercises of the 
Hand and Eye Training course, the evidence also shows that one and one- 
half or two hours per week is sufficient." 

'• We regard Cookery as a most important branch of practical instruction. 
We are of opinion tkat this useful subject should be encouraged in the 
schools. Instruction might in many cases be given by special teachers 
in Centers where the classes could be attended by the pupils from schools 
in the immediate neighborhood; in others the instruction in this subject 
must be given by the ordinary school teacher. In the latter case special 
provision must be made for the training of the teachers by itinerant teach- 
ers or otherwise. We consider that the teaching of this subject should be 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 6B 

continuous, not in the sense that it should be taught every day, bvit that 
it should be taught in one or more classes each week, throughout the year 
or a considerable part of it. The practical lessons should be supplemented 
by lessons in theory anc> both should be interdependent. The scientific 
principles underlying the subject should be explained and illustrated by 
experiments, as a part of the object lesson and other science lessons in the 
school. The importance of accuracy in weighing and measuring should 
be insistad upon; the blackboard should be used for the setting out of 
directions; the reasons of the processes should be explained; the children 
should write notes of the lesson, cind a statement of the results of their 
work. These notes should be carefully revised by the teacher, bad hand- 
writing, incorrect modes of expression, and errors in spelling, should be 
pointed out and corrected. The course should include demonstration les- 
sons in which the processes should be gone through and explained by the 
teacher, and practice lessons in which the same processes should be gone 
through by the pupil. During the demonstration simple lectures should 
be given, dealing with all points of the subject; e. g., the current prices of 
provisions, the cost of a meal, the methods of selecting meat. The charac- 
ter of the instruction should be tested by occasional visits of the Inspector 
whilst the classes are being taught, and in such other way as the Com- 
missioners of National Education may determine." 

The Commission also recommended that instruction should be given 
under the head of domestic economy, upon the following subjects: Food: 
clothing: cleanliness; the dwelling: simple ailments, and in hygiene: — air; 
breathing; ventilation; water; alcoholic liquors; food. Upon this subject 
they say: "The acquiring of information on such subjects from text 
books is useful, but it is still more necessary that a power of applying this 
information should be gained. Such a power can only be gained by a 
thorough knowledge of the principles involved, such as can be obtained 
from actual experimental observation." 

The g-eneral conclusions reached by the Commission 
are summed up in the following statement: — "We may 
at once express our strong- conviction that Manual and 
Practical Instruction ought to be introduced, as far as 
f)Ossible, into all schools where it does not at present 
exist, and that, in those schools where it does exist, it 
ought to be largely developed and extended. We are 
satisfied that such a change will not involve any detri- 
ment to the literary education of the pupils, while it 
will contribute largely to develop their faculties, to 
quicken their intelligence, and to fit them better for 
their work in life." 



• THE SLOYD SYSTEM. 

As the course in Woodwork recommended by the 
Commission, is based on the lines of the Swedish system 
of Sloyd, it may be well to state here the essential fea- 
tures of that system. Otto Salomon, in his book on the 
Theory of Educational Sloyd, thus explains it: "Sloyd 
is a system of Educational Handwork. In Sweden the 



54 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

term Sloyd embraces many useful forms of handcraft, 
such as: work in wood, (carpentry, carving, fret work, 
and turnery) ; in metal, (brass, iron, and wire) ; leather; 
cardboard, and such occupations ag brush making, 
coarse painting, straw plaiting, basket makmg, and book 
binding." 

" The term Sloj'd, in England, is generally understood to mean a system 
of Handwork in Wood. Why do we not the'c call it Carpentry? Because 
it differs from it in several essential features. There is no division of la- 
bour in Sloyd. Carpentry is a trade, and the principles which underlie it 
are entirely utilitarian, whereas Sloyd is solely a means of Formative Edu- 
cation." 

" Its purpose is not to turn out Carpenters, but to develop the mental, 
moral, and physical powers of children; and it is the most effective instru- 
ment yet devised for securing this development." 

" It gives a taste for rough labour as distinguished from clerkly accomp- 
lishments; it cultivates manual dexterity, self-reliance, accuracy, careful- 
ness, patience, perseverance, and especially does it train the faculty of at- 
tention and develop the powers of concentration." 

" The methods employed in Sloyd are such as are best fitted to secure 
these ends." 

" The objects which the child makes are equally useful with those of the 
carpenter; but, unlike the work of the carpenter, the value of the child's 
work does not exist in them, but in the child that made them." 

The Sloyd system of Woodwork is developed through 
a series of objects technically termed Models. These 
begin with some exceedingly simple objects, such as 
printers, letter openers, labels, and the like. In the 
typical Sloyd course for boys at Naas, there are fifty 
such Models, and thirty in the course for girls. They 
are so arranged that each represents some slight advance 
upon the one that preceded it in the course, — either 
some new tool, or some new use of a tool previously 
employed, being introduced in the making of it. 

The utmost importance is attached to having each 
object, when made, the work of one individual pupil. 
Division of labor is rigorously excluded from the sys- 
tem; so much so, that whenever it is necessary for the 
teacher to show the pupil how any particular part of 
the work is to be done, he is to show this, not by doing 
aportion of the pupil's work for him, but by giving the 
demonstration upon another piece of wood. Self-re- 
liance is one of the points of character to be developed 
by the System, and so the Sloyd model when completed 
must be, from beginning to end, the individual work of 
the pupil who made it. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 55 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES RELATING TO THE SERIES OF MODELS. 

Salomon gives the following ten points on the choice 
of the model: 

1. All objects of luxury— knick-knacks -should be excluded. 

2. All Models should be serviceable in the house. 

3. They should be capable of being finished by the children without 
help. 

4. The MoJels should be of wood, and only wood should be worked in, 
as a rule. 

5. The objects should not be polished or stained. 

6. The objects made should be such as to require as little wood as 
possible. 

7. The children should be taught to work in harder and softer kinds 
of wood. 

8. Turnery and carving should be used v^ry little. 

9. Objects chosen should be such as will develop the sense of form. 

10. All the exercises (embraced by the particular kind of Sloyd in ques- 
tion) which the child is capable of making, should be properly graduated 
and included in the series in due proportions. 

Mr. Salomon also gives the following eight principles 
on the arrangement of the series of Models: 

1. The series should proceed from the easier to the more difficult, and 
from the simpler to the more complex. 

2. A refreshing variety must be afforded. 

.3. In the early part of the series, the models should be capable of being 
quickly and easily made, and should be so progressively arranged that, 
later on, the objects arrived at should require more time and skill, and 
yet be capable of being done without help. ^^ 

4. In the production of the early models, few tools should be required, 
but as the series progresses, new tools and manipulations should be in- 
troduced. 

5. That every model should be so placed in the series, that the neces- 
sary qualifications for doing it exactly are found in the child, who there- 
fore does not need the help of the teacher. 

6. The models must be so arranged that the pupils can always make 
not only a serviceable, but an exact copy. 

7. That the knife— as the fundamental tool— be used frequently, es- 
pecially at the beginning. 

8. That generally in the early models the softest wood should not bp 
used. 



56 Manual f raining in the Public Schools. 



OUTLINES OF COURSES OF STUDY IN MAN- 
UAL TRAINING AND DOMESTIC 
ECONOMY. 

For the purpose of showing the character of work 
attempted in manual training and domestic economy in 
the elementary schools in some foreign countries and 
in some ot the cities in the United States, the following 
outlines ot courses are submitted: 

MEMORANDUM ON MANUAL INSTRUCTION UNDER THE MAN- 
CHESTER SCHOOL BOARD, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND. 

In Manchester, manual instruction is taught in eigh- 
teen of the elementary day schools, and is given out of 
school hours. 

Teachers. — The ordinary teachers connected with the 
schools teach the subject where possible, that is, where 
there are qualified teachers of manual instruction on 
the staff. 

In some cases, the head masters themselves teach it. 

The teachers of manual instruction have all been 
specially trained for the work by the superintendent of 
manual instruction. 

Twenty boys form the maximum number for one 
teacher at one time. 

Fitti)io;s.—T\\^ manual rooms are fitted with single 
benches; a room thirty-two feet by twenty-four feet 
gives sufficient space for twenty benches. 

Cost of fitiino^s.- — A room fitted up with twenty 
benches and a complete set of tools costs altogether 
about two hundred and fifty dollars. 

If only one group of boys use this room, the cost of 
fitting up per head would be about twelve dollars, but 
generally four to twelve groups use the room. 

Cost of material. — The average cost per pupil for 
material including drawing material, is fifty-five cents 
per year. 

Scheme of mamial i7tstriiction. — The scheme of man- 
ual instruction is educational as opposed to technical. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 57 

It may be said to be based, in ret^ard to the series of 
models, on an adaptation of the principles of Sloyd 
teaching to the best traditions of English workshop 
practice. 

Class teaching is only employed in drawing and dem- 
ohstration lessons. 

The teaching at the bench is individual. 

No assistance whatever is given to the student be- 
yond the demonstration of proper methods of work. 

A high standard of finish and accuracy is insisted 
upon, and in order to make this possible the models 
are carefully graduated both in regard to drawing and 
bench work. 

The models when made and approved become the 
property of the student. 

The method of instruction is by drawing, demonstra- 
tion, and bench work. 

Each boy makes a dimensioned drawing, in plan and 
elevation, of the object he has to make, in a book large 
enough to hold a year's work. The model is then made 
before him, and at the same time a simple account is 
given of the theory of the construction of tools, and the 
structure and growth of timber. The bench work is 
then all done from the boy's own drawing and notes, 
the teacher simply intervening occasionally to correct 
improper methods of work. 

The course of instruction is arranged to cover three 
years. 

CONDENSED PROGRAM OF MANUAL OCCUPATIONS FOR ELE- 
MENTARY SCHOOLS, PREPARED BY MR. A. SLUYS, DIREC- 
TOR OF THE BRUSSELS MUNICIPAL TRAINING COLLEGE, 
BELGIUM. 

Lozver Standard. 

First Year. — i. Clay modeling — Sphere, cube, arid 
other simple geometrical forms: objects of real life, 
such as fruits, etc. Original forms of beauty. 

2. Pea-work — Construction of forms of two and 
of three dimensions; various forms of life and beauty. 

3. Paper-folding and cutting — Geometrical forms of 
two dimensions; forms of life and beauty. 

Second Year. — Revision and extension of work of 
first year. 



t)8 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 



IntcvDicdiatc Standard. 

Third Year. — i . Clay modeling — Extension of work 
of first and second year. 

2. Cardboard work — Making geometrical forms of 
two and three dimensions in cardboard, with scissors, 
knife, and gummed paper. Ornamentation of objects 
made b^^ means of coloured paper, so as to develop 
taste for harmony of colour. 

Fourth Year. — i. Cardboard work — Cutting out and 
putting together more advanced applications of geomet- 
rical forms and useful objects, as pencil-box, match-box, 
etc. Ornamentation as before. 

Higher Standard. 

Fifth Year. — i. Cardboard work. — More advanced 
work. 

2. Wood work. — Beginning of wood work. Copies 
of a graduated series of objects. 

Sixth Year. — i. Cardboard work. — More advanced 
work. 

2. Wood work._ — Further graduated exercises. Dove- 
tailing and mortice-work, with T square. Putting to- 
gether of objects consisting of several parts. 

KINDS OF MANUAL WORK TAUGHT IN PARIS. 

The Paris program includes five distinct kinds of 
work, namely: 

I. Paper work. 

2 



Cardboard work. 

Modeling and moulding clay. 

Wood work. 
,. Iron work. 
If the school has a work shop, the five kinds of work 
are gone through. If there is no work shop, only the 
first three kinds are done. Out of iqo elementary boys' 
schools in Paris, 123 are at present provided with work 
shops. Of these, however, only 32 have the necessary 
fittings for iron work, so that the rest work in wood only. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 69 



■ PROGRAM FOLLOWED. 

The following is the m-anner in which the occupations 
are portioned out among the standards: 

Eloiicntary Standard. 

(Age of pupils, 7 -9.) 

First Year. — Paper cutting and folding. — Lines, an- 
gles, squares, surfaces, easy figures of three dimensions. 
Paper zveaving. — Various symmetrical designs. 

Second Year. — Revision and extension of first year. 

Interniediate Standard. 
(9- 1 1 years of age.) 

First Year. — Paper ciittino^. — Triangles, polygons, 
with study of their geometrical properties, Cardtward 
ivork. — Regular solids, with applications. Modeling in 
clay. — Geometrical and ornamental figures in moderate 
relief. 

Second Year. — Revision of first year's work. Com- 
mencement of zvood 2iW(S. iron zvork. 

PligJier Standard. 

(i I - 13 years of age.) 

First Year. — Cardboard zvork — (where there is no 
wood or iron work.) Modeling in clay. — More ad- 
vanced. Wood and iron zvork. 
. Second Year. — Same as first year. 

In general, in wood and iron-work, there is no par- 
ticular amount of work exacted for each year. Ihe 
pupils do as much as they can; those who get on well, 
progress as fast as they are able. Twelve object:s are, 
however, expected to be accomplished in a year. 

The following manual training course for girls is 
taken from the report of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of the state of Michigan, for the year 1900. 



60 Alanual Training in the Public Schools. 

"We give below a synopsis of a course of study for sewing, cooking and 
carpentry, selecting those features upon which there is a general agree- 
ment among educators. The work given for the kitchen is quite specific, 
but owing to lack of space, only a general outline is given." 

MANUAL TRAINING COURSE FOR GIRLS. 

Third Grade— {First Year Wor/c.) 

1. Basting. 6. Bemming. 

2. Running. 7. Making work bag. 

3. Stitching. 8. Cutting and making under- 

4. Running and back stitching. waist. 

5. Over casting (top sewing.) 9. Stitching simple designs. 

-Fourth Grade — {Second Year Work.) 

1. French seam. 7. Puttonholes. 

2. Patching. 8. Sewing on buttons. 

3. Gathering-plain. 9. Drafting skirt patterns. 

4. Gathering-French. 10. Cutting and making skirt. 

5. Stroking gathers. 11. Additional work; aprons, skirts, 

6. Putting on bands. under-waists, etc. 

Fifth Grade— { Third Year Work ) 

1. Felling. 8. Drafting patterns for some 

2. Gusset-making. under garment. 

3. Hemstitching. 9. Cutting and making the same. 

4. Tucking. 10. Fancy stitching. 

5. Cloth darning. 11. Additional work: night shirts, 

6. Weaving. gowns, und er - ga r m e nt s , 

7. Stocking darning. drawers, shirt-waists, etc. 

Sixth Grade — {Fourth Year Work.) 

1. Review of pattern drafting. 6. Basting and stitching the same. 

2. Sleeve. 7. Finish seams. 

3. Collar. 8. Tailor buttonholes. 

4. Waist. 9. Loops and eyelets. 

5. Cutting the above. 10. Sewing on hooks and eyes. 

Seventh Grade — (Fifth Year Work.) 

(A) 

Cooking. 

1. Discussion of — fe) Make beef tea. 

(a) What it is. (f) Experiment with starch and 

(b) Effects upon foods. flour. 

2. Fuel: wood, gas, coal. 5. Make blanc mange. 

3. Starting the fire. 6. Make a salad -serve the same 

4. Boiling: with vegetables or meat. 

(a) Note with thermometer 7. Boil potatoes: beets; onions; 
changes of temperature of squash; etc. 

water. 8. Make vegetable soup. 

(b) Effects upon the white of 9. Boil oat meal — other cereals, 
an egg; of hot water; of con- Study cereals. 

tinued boiling; of simmering. 10. Boil rice: make custard. 

(CI Study in similar manner 11. Boil coffee, and cocoa. Study 

effects upon fresh meat. De- them. 

duce that the proper temper- 12. Boil and bake macaroni. Study 

ature for cooking albumen is its manufacture. 

just below siiTDmering point. 13. Make corn starch pudding. 

(d) Experiment in similar man- Lessons on utensils used in 

ner with salte.d meats; smoked cooking. 

meats. 



Manual Training in the PuhUc Schools. 61 

Stewing: 

Experiment with tough meats with and without acids — (lemon juice, 

etc.) 

ic) ■ 

Broiling: 

Study names and positions of steaks; selection of different meats. 

Toast bread. Make milk toast. Study utensils used in broiling. 

(D) 

Baking: 3. Make yeast. Discuss the yeast 

1. Experiment with yeast, soda, plant. 

cream of tartar, sour milk, 4. Make pop-overs, biscuits, muf- 

baking powder. Show in each fins, cornbread, wheat bread, 

the presence of carbonic acid. etc. 

(Lighted taper extinguished.) 5. Bake meat: compare with broiled 

2. Distinguish soda from cream of and boiled meat. Select best 

tartar. pieces; basting: solid and rolled 

roasts. 

Eigldh Grade — {Sixth Year Work ) 

1. Review of previous year's work. 

2. Particular attention to pastry cooking. 

3. Household economics: — 

(a) Prepare menus for different seasons. 

(b) Prepare menus for certain number of persons at stipulated cost 
for each. 

(c) Comparison of cost of different menus. 

OUTLINE OF CUUR.SE OF STUDY IN MANUAL AND DOMESTIC 
ARTS AND SEWING, IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BROOK- 
LINE, MASS. 

Kindergarten. 

Gifts and occupations. 

Grade I. 

Selected Kindergarten occupations. Constructive 
work in connection with other studies. 

Grade II. 

Paper cutting and folding. Constructive work in con- 
nection with number, language and history. 

Gi'ade III. 

Clay modeling and cardboard work. 

Use of scissors. Short seams. Basting, stitching, 
back-Stitching, running, hem felled, oversewing, over- 
casting, hems measured and finished. Supplementary 
work : Work-bag of checked linen. 



G2 Maniial Training in the Public Scliooh, 



Grade IV. 

Knife work with wood of two dimensions. 
Three-inch model of French seam. Mark name by 
stitching. Hemmed-on patch, Stitched-in patch. Sup- 
plementary work : White muslin apron with drawing 
string. 



'&• 



Grade V. 

Advanced work with the knife and simpler too^s. 

Oversewed patch used on lighter cloth. Darning 
stockings. Making button-holes. Supplementary work: 
Cooking outfit for sixth year, to be cut and prepared 
by girls of higher grade. 

Grade VI. 

Mechanical Drawing. Models constructed from draw- 
ings with the use of all common tools. 

General care of house; airing, sweeping, dusting, 
cleaning, care of beds, table setting, washing of dishes, 
cnre of fire, stove and lamps. 

Make tuck-measure; fold cloth for tucks; makegusset 
measure; cut and sew gusset in end of seam; sew gath- 
ered piece into a waistband; button-holes and loops; 
sew on buttons with tape; whip and sew on ruffle; darn- 
ing. Supplementary work: VVhite cloth skirt. 

Grade VII. 

Mechanical drawing. Projections of geometric solids. 
Working drawings. 

Advanced Sloyd and wood carving. 

Water and its effect upon foods. Milk as a typical 
food. Fat in cooking. Experiments with albumen and 
starch. Cooking of eggs, vegetables and cereals. 

Bind white cloth sampler with thirty-five different 
models of sewing. Supplementary work: Diagrams for 
undergarments drafted for measurements; study differ- 
ent qualities of cloth. 

Grade VIII. 

Mechanical drawing. Continue work of Grade \TI, 
Design copied and original, 



Manual Training in the Public Scliools. 63 

Wood turning". 

Combinations of starch and proteid. Cooking offish 
and meat, meat soups and gelatine dishes. Yeast 
bread. Baking-powder mixtures. 

Study flannels of different weight and their adapta- 
tion to different uses. Materials for stockings. Ging- 
hams and muslins. Fin.e darning. Use of sewing ma- 
chine. Supplementary work: Flannel skirt finished 
with slight embroidery; l^emstitched undergarments; 
Mexican work; lace work:. 

Grade IX. 

Mechanical drawing continued. 

Bench work. Elementary cabinet making. 

Canning of fruit and jelly making. Plain pastry 
cake, simple puddings, salads, frozen dishes. Invalid 
cookery. 

Shirt waist cut and fitted and made on machine. 
Dress lining fitted by the " art of pinning on." Dress 
cut, fitted and made. Hooks and eyes. Sewing on of 
braid, etc. Millinery begun. Notes taken of all lessons. 



COURSE IN MANUAL TRAINING IN THE SCHOOLS OF LOS 

ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. 

FiR>5T Year/ — A and B Classes. 

Ma.nual Trainixg — Clay Modeling — Conceptional modeling, illus- 
trating subject under consideration, based upon a study of the true type 
form. 

Paper-Cutting and Paper-Folding — To be used as aids in developing 
and making practical the subject taught. Emphasize the utilitarian side 
by producing articles both useful and attractive. 

Weaving — Continue work of kindergarten leading to the production 
of useful articles by braiding, twisting and weaving strands of various 
kinds, such as vegetable fiber, palm, rafia, tape, cord, and the production 
of crude fabrics in cotton, wool or silk; and cardboard darning. 

Secoxd Year -^ a and B Classes^ 

Manual Training — Continue paper-folding and cutting. Introduce 
color, showing the tints and shades in reproducing fruits and flowers by 
teaching use of the brush. This to be used \xx connection with drawing. 



6^ Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

Third Year — A and B Classes. 

Cardboard Sloyd — Models to be constructed: Ruler, triangle, square 
tray, oblong tray, note book, thread winder, tag, calendar, wall pocket, 
frame, equilateral triangle, needle case, portfolio, basket with handle, 
match strike, triangular box, circle-maker, circular mat, book-mark, bon- 
bon box, slanting tray, handkerchief box, woven basket, square box and 
cover, 30-degree triangle, triangular tray, triangular box and cover. 

Fourth Year — A and B Classes. 

Cardboard Sloyd — B 4 classes will take the same work as third year. 
A 4 classes will construct the following models: Ruler, triangle, folded 
traJ^ note book, thread winder or tag, frame, equilateral triangular box, 
portfolio, envelope, bonbon box, triangular tray. Pulp-board covered 
memorandum card, calendar back, lined tray, note book covers. 

Fifth Year — B Class. 

Sewing — Seven stitches on burlap. Talk on cloth. Weaving on 
card. Even, uneven basting and running stitch. Design outlined with 
fine running stitch. Striped calico matched and top sewed. Overcasting. 
Back-stitch, half-back and combination stitch. French seam on bleached 
muslin. Mitred and square corners, cut in paper; mitred and square 
corners cut on muslin. Bias matching; bias cut in paper. 

Fifth Year — B Class. 

Sewing — Talk on needles. Make small bag. French hem on damask. 
Fine hemming on bleached muslin. Manufacture of spool cotton. 
French fell. Skirt opening, gathering and placing of bands. Apron. 
Flannel. 

Fifth Year — A and B Classes. 

Sloyd — Model No. 1, Pencil-Sharpener — New exercises: Measuring, 
length planing, cross-cut sawing, gluing. New tools: Smoothing plane, 
try-square, ruler, back-saw. 

Model No. 2. Floioer Label — New exercises: End planing, oblique 
Dlaning, sand-papering. New tools: Block plane, bench hook, sand- 
paper. 

Model No. 3, Key Tag — New exercises: Edge filing, boring. New 
tools: Flat file, brad-awl. 

Model No. 4. Mat — New exercises: Turning sawing, spoke-shaving. 
New tools: Turning saw, spoke-shave. » 

Model No. 5. Tivine Winder — ]\ew exercises: Filing concave curves. 
New tools: Half-round file. 

Model No. 6, Match Bcratclier — New exercises: Horizontal boring. 
New tools: Center bit, bit brace. 

Model No. 7, Key-hoard — New exercises: Fixing metal fittings, metal 
filing. New tools: Metal file. 

Model No. 8, Paper Knife — New exercises: Curve filing, modeling 
with spoke shave. New tools: Cabinet scraper. 

Model No. 9, Key Rack — New exercises: Edge filing. New tools: 
Round file. 

Sixth Year — B Class. 

Sewing — Tane, hooks and eves. Button-holes and buttons. Hemmed 
natch. Ton-sewed patch. Patch on flannel. Stocking darning. Darn- 
ing on cashmere. Slip stitching. Talk on scissors, pins and thirnbl^s, 
1'ncks, plain and hemstitched. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 65 



Sixth Year — A Class. 

Sewing — Manufacture of silk. Pattern of white skirt, draughted to 
measure. Making small skirt. 

Sixth Year — A axd B Classes. 

Sloyd — First Course — Model JVo. 1, Pencil-Sliarpener — New exer- 
cises: Measuring, ripsawing, jackplaning, gluing. New tools: Ruler, 
ripsaw, jackplane, try-square. 

Model No. 2, Label — -New exercises: End planing, oblique sawing, 
oblique planing. New tools: Blockplane, bench-hook. 

Model No. 3, Key-Tag — New exercises: Edge filing (convex), boring 
(horizontal), sand-papering. New tools: Flat file, bit brace, center bit, 
sand-paper. 

Model No. 4, Table Mat — New exercises: Turning, sawing, spoke- 
shaving. New tools: Turning saw, spoke-shave. 

Model No. 5. Fish-line Winder — New exercises: Edge filing (con- 
cave). New tools: Half-round file. 

Model No. 6, Elliptical Chitting Board — New exercises: Modeling 
with spoke-shave. New tools. 

Model No. 7, Key Rack — New exercises: Filing interior edges, fixing 
metal fittings. New tools: Brad-awl. 

Model No. 8, Match Safe — New exercises: Filing compound curves, 
nailing. New tools: Hammer. 

Second Course — ■ Model No. 1, Elliptical Cutting Board — New exer- 
cises: Modeling with spoke-shave. 

Model No. 2, Match Safe — New exercises: Filing compound curves, 
flush joints, nailing. 

Model No. 3, Comb Case — New exercises: Free-hand curves; oblique 
flush joints. 

Model No. 4. Easel — New exercises: Stippling, toe nailing. 

Model No. 5, Picture Frame — New exercises: Making ellipse, bevel- 
ing, with file. 

Model No. 6, Bracket — ^ New exercises: Compound curves. 

Seventh Year — B Class. 

Cookery — Pre! imirtnrii Lessons — Nnmes. uses anrl care of utensils. 
Washing of rlishps Dusting a, room. Measuring. Principles of com- 
bustion anrl fi'-R-builrlinsr. Bnilint? of water. 

Slfiirlif of Foorl Prh->oinlef! — i^') Carbohvrlrates: Rtarches and pug^ars; 
source, composition, fffpr-f, of heat, dippstibiUtv: cost as comparpcl with 
otbpr foods. a^ Proteids: Fg'es. milk and fish, studied undpv same 
topics as carbohydrates, f/^) Fats and oils: same sub-topics. Dishes to 
be prepared, applying scientific principles already learned. 

Seventh Year — A Class. 

riooKERY — Study of food principles, continupd: 

Pmtpjds — Mpat. Study of various cuts. Methods of cookery: roast- 
ing, baking, boilins, broilinqr. 

Batters and Do7inJis — Study of soda and cream of tartar: of ypast. of 
flo'ir: the usp of baking powder and yeast as methods of^making batters 
and dous'hs light. 

Eeveraaes — Growth; preparation for the market; preparation for the 
table; food value. 



66 Manual Training in the Puhlic Schools. 



Seventh Yeak — A and B Classes. 

Sewing — Same as sixth year. 

Sloyd — Model No. 1, Flower Stick — New exercises: Mark gauging, 
whittling. New tools: Marking gauge, knife. 

Model No. 2, Penholder — New exercises: Boring (perpendicular), 
curve whittling, peg fitting. New tools: Drill bit. 

Model No. 3, Floiver Pot Stand — New exercises: To joint a surface, 
nail setting. New tools: Winding sticks, nailset. 

Model No. 4, Corner Bracket — New exercises: Smooth planing. New 
tools: Smoothing plane. 

Model No. 5, Hammer Handle — New exercises: Modeling symmetri- 
cal curves, scraping. New tools: Cabinet scraper. 

Model No. 6, Whisk Broom Holder — New exercises: Gouging. New 
tools: Gouge. 



Eighth Year — B Class. 

« 

CooKEKY — Canning and preserving. General cookery on lines fol- 
lowed in first year's work. Table setting and service. Bills of fare for 
breakfasts, lunches and dinners, cost estimated by pupils, and the meals 
actually prepared according to estimates. Cookery for the sick, with 
regard for correct dietetic value and dainty serving. 



Eighth Year — A Class. 

Cookery — Home Economics — General household arrangements. 
Plumbing, heating and ventilating. Care of lamps and oil stoves. Care 
of beds and bedding. Cleaning of metals and woodwork. Removal of 
stains from household linen. Emergencies and home nursing. 



Eighth Year — A and B Classes. 

Manual Training — Sloyd — Model No. 1, Nail Box — New exercises : 
Flush joints, halving together joints. New tools: Chisel. 

Model No. 2, Picture Fram.e — New exercises: Rabbeting, mitering. 
New tools: Rabbet plane, miter box. 

Model No. 3, Toivel Rack — New exercises: Clamping, countersinking, 
axle fitting, veining. stipplins:. New tools: Clamps, countersink, screw- 
driver, veiner, carver's punch. 

Model No. 4, Frame — New exercises: Half-lapping joints, chip carv- 
ing, grooving with chisel. New tools: Cornerfirmer. 

Sewing — Same as fifth year. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 67 



PRESENT PRACTICE AND SUGGESTIONS. 

From an examination of the foregoing courses, and 
others adopted in different cities in this and other coun- 
tries, it will appear that the present practice in schools 
where the work in manual training is best organized, 
is to give work in paper cutting and folding, cardboard 
work and clay modeling in the primary grades; in the 
lower intermediate grades, cardboard work and clay 
modeling, and in the higher intermediate grades, Slo^'d 
wood work for the boys, and sewing for the girls. In 
the grammar grade Sloyd wood work for the boys, sew- 
ing and cooking for the girls. Drawing should be car- 
ried on throughout all the grades, in connection with 
the other lines of manual training. The work in paper 
cutting and folding with cardboard, and the sewing, 
may be carried on in the ordinary school room, and 
with but little expense for tools and material. 

For the introduction of Sloyd wood work, a room 
should be fitted up with benches and tools for the ac- 
commodation of twenty pupils. Such a room can be 
furnished at an expense of about three hundred dollars. 
It would also be necessary to have a room specially 
fitted up for carrying on the work in cooking. This 
would cost according to equipment, from three hundred 
and fifty to five hundred dollars. The rooms equipped 
for wood work and cooking could be used as centers to 
which pupils from different schools could come for 
reasonable distances, for instruction. Giving each class 
of twenty pupils a two hour lesson once a week, three 
hundred different pupils could be accommodated in 
each room, and each set of pupils taught by a single 
teacher. In organizing the work, it is not necessary to 
begin all the different lines at the same time. The 
work in the primary and intermediate grades could be 
begun with the least expense, wood working could next 
be started, so as to carry on the instruction begun in 
the lower grades, and finally an equipment and teacher 
should be added for the cooking. 

Considering the value of manual training, it is evi- 
dent that the moderate expense connected with the in- 
troduction into the schools presents no serious difficulty. 



68 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

The normal schools should at once undertake the 
training of grade teachers so that they may be able to 
carry on the different lines of manual training which 
may be undertaken without special equipment and spe- 
cial rooms. If this training were undertaken in the 
normal schools, they could send out every year five 
hundred young women who could give instruction in 
these subjects. There should be in connection with 
some one of the normal schools, a department de- 
voted to training teachers of cooking, and the various 
lines of domestic economy, and also teachers who 
could take charge of the wood working department. 

In organizing work in manual training, too much 
emphasis cannot be placed upon the necessity for em- 
ploying teachers who are thoroughly trained for doing 
the work successfully. The artisan is not a teacher. 

MODIFICATIONS IN PRESENT COURSES MADE NECESSARY BY 
THE INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL TRAINING. 

One of the objections urged against the incorporation 
of manual training in the common school courses, is 
that these courses are already overcrowded, and that 
any additional work would make too great demands 
upon pupils' time and energy, and would result in a de- 
terioration of the work now carried on. The Parlia- 
mentary Commission on Manual and Practical Instruc- 
tion in Primary Schools under the Board of National 
Education in Ireland, after an exhaustive investigation 
reported upon this point as follows : " From witness 
after witness in Englandand in Scotland, we learn, as the 
result of the experience gained since the establishment 
.of the classes of wood work and similar instruction, 
that the instruction given in these classes is productive 
of the various advantages already specified in connec- 
tion with Hand and Eye training exercises in the Low- 
er Standard." (The work in Hand and Eye training 
is that previously specified as adapted for the primary 
and lower intermediate grades.) " It trains and quick- 
ens the intelligence of the pupils. It teaches them, in 
many practical ways, the useful lesson of the import- 
ance of exactness, even in matters of apparently small 
detail. It gives a useful variety to the work at school. 
So far from injuriously affecting in any way the book 



Manual Traming in the FubUc Schools. 69 

work of the school it tends on the contrary, to the 
greater progress of the pupils in that portion of their 
work. It is popular with the pupils, with their parents, 
and with the teachers. It has come to be popular even 
with teachers who at the outset were opposed to it, 
either from a misconception of its nature, viewing it as 
something connected with trades, and therefore out of 
place in an elementary school, or from an apprehension, 
not unnatural in the absence of all experience as to its 
working, that it would interfere with the book work of 
the school." 

The London school board says: " It is usually found 
that the time deducted from the ordinary school hours 
of boys who are undergoing courses of manual training, 
in no way causes a decreased efficiency in the ordinary 
subjects. Boys are also found to be more careful and 
observant, more self-reliant, and certainly are more 
likely to grow up with a real respect for the dignity of 
labour." 

A French commission who carefully investigated this 
subject in France, reported that in the judgment of its 
members if one-half of the children's time in school 
were devoted to manual training, as much and as good 
work in the ordinary subjects of study would be done in 
the remaining half as were then being done in the full 
time. The unvarying reports from schools in the United 
States where manual training has been introduced are 
of the same tenor. That this conclusion is a reasonable 
one, will be evident to any person who realizes that 
children in the graded schools can not possibly devote 
the whole of the six hours of school time daily to profit- 
able study of books. The manual training comes as a 
rest and change and enables the pupil to do better book 
work than could be done without it. 

Granting this conclusion to be true, the objection will 
Vje still urged that the present program occupies every 
moment of the day, and no place can be found for 
manual training. If superintendents and teachers will 
examine with care the purposes of their daily work in 
the school room, and see that these purposes are such 
as can be justified in a rational scheme of education, 
and will then limit the demands upon the pupil to what 
is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of these 
purposes, it will be found that much of the work now 



70 Manual Traiimig in the Public Schools. 

done may be eliminated as unessential. It will also be 
found that one or two lessons in almost any subject of 
the course may be omitted each week for any half year, 
without loss to the pupils. One-half the time now de- 
voted to the study of arithmetic in the graded schools 
could be given up to manual training without any loss 
to the pupils, either in arithmetical knowledge or skill 
at the end of the course. When wood work is begun, 
the drawing in connection vvith it might take the place 
of the regular work in drawing without loss to the 
pupil. Where geography is carried on as a daily reci- 
tation as low as the third grade, this subject might very 
well be omitted for one or two periods a week without 
damage. These statements are made upon the assump- 
tion that each day has a definite purpose in each sub- 
ject, and that definite work is assigned to pupils for 
preparation which is essential for the realization of this 
purpose. 

OPINIONS OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS. 

The Manual Training Magazine for January, 1901, 
prints the testimonies of a number of university presi- 
dents as to the value of manual training to the young 
man. These testimonies were elicited by Mr. Julius 
Stern, a graduate of the Northeast Manual Training 
School of Philadelphia, and a student in the law de- 
partment of the University of Pennsylvania. 

With acknowledgments to the editor of the Manual 
Training Magazine these letters are here reprinted: 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 71 



From the President of Harvard University. 

AsTicou, Me., October 2, 1900. 
Dear Sir: I should like to see some form of manual training made 
part of the education at school of every boy who is to come to college. 
It not only trains the eye and the hand, but develops the habit of ac- 
curacy and thoroughness in any kind of work. Moreover, it develops the 
mental faculties of some boys better than books do. 

Sincerely yours, 
(Signed) Charles W. Eliot. 



From the President of the University of Chicago. 

Chicago, October 11, 1900. 
My Dear Mr. Stern: Complying with your request, I .am glad to say 
that our experience in the schools connected with the University of Chi- 
cago leads me to the comclusion that manual training in due proportion 
in the elementary and secondary schools gives breadth and power which 
become an effective means in higher education. Nor is this true merely 
in the case of those who 'are pursuing courses in engineering; other 
things being equal, every young man and young woman is the better 
fitted for the higher work of the university for having trained hands, 
and the power to plan and execute which comes through manual train- 
ing. Yours very truly, 

(Signed) William R. Harper. 



From the President of Johns Hopkins University. 

President Daniel C. Oilman, of Johns Hopkins University, refers Mr. 
Stern to his published article on "A Plea for the Training of the Hand," 
in which he says: 

"Manual training is an essential part of a good education, whether 
that education is restricted to the common school or carried on to the 
highest discipline of technical schools and universities." 



From the Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Philadelphia, October 22, 1900. 
Dear Sir: It is to me no matter of surprise that manual training has 
taken so prominent a place in modern education. The increasing use of 
laboratory methods in professional schools is in recognition of the fact 
that no amount of didactic teaching can cover the whole ground in any 
of the sciences, and that mental concepts must have the aid of actual 
experimentations. If the service of the trained eye and trained hand is 
an essential to the mental grasp of the higher sciences, it cannot but be 
that the training of these organs will be helpful to mental activities of 
any kind. With a proper apportionment of time. I believe that manual 
training may be made a part of the curriculum of any school; and that, 
so far from hindering, it will actually advance the education of the stu- 
dent in other and more abstract directions. 

Sincerely yours, 
(Signed) Chas. C. Harrison. 



72 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 



From the President of Lehigh University. 

liEHiGH University, 
South Betiileiteh, Pa., October 9, 1900. 
Dear Sir: Our experience at Lehigh University with the graduates 
of the manual training schools of Philadelphia and other cities has been 
most favorable. The courses of instruction in these schools is an ad- 
mirable preparation for engineering colleges. It is not merely that the 
boys have been taught the use of tools; it is rather that their minds 
have been trained through the medium of the eye and the hand. De- 
sirable as it is to teach a boy the elements of handicraft, and useful as 
this accomplishment may be in after life, it is an entirely false idea of 
the purpose of manual training schools to suppose that this is the end 
aimed at. I'he education of a boy is the more complete and thorough 
the more avenues that are opened up for his enlightenment, and manual 
training, when systematically and intelligently carried out, gives the 
boy facts and thoughts which he would fail to get in the class-room. 

(Signed) T. M. Drown. 



From the President of Cornell University. 

Ithaca, N. Y., October 1, 1900. 
Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of September 28 I would say that 
I am a firm believer in an education which trains and develops the 
whole man. The hand is man's best servant, and some modicum of 
manual training should be included in the school training of every child 
of the present time. , 

Very truly yours, 

(Signed) J. G. Schurman. 

From the President of the University of Michigan. 

Ann Arbor, October 24, 1899. 
Dear Sir: The introduction of manual training into our high schools 
is rapidly and deservedly gaining favor in this part of the country. It 
is now recognized that it has a distinct and positive intellectual and 
pedagogical value. 

Yours truly, 
(Signed) James B. Angell. 

From the President of Leland Stanford Junior University. 

Stanford University, Cal., October 9, 1900. 
Dear Sir: I am in receipt of the catalogue of the Northeast Manual 
Training School of Philadelphia, and have examined it with much in- 
terest. I haA^e always recognized the value of manual-training high 
schools, in which a good secondary education is given in connection with 
manual training. Such schools rise above the level of mere trade 
scihools, and through their breadth of view, accompanied by practical 
drill, aire doing a good vvork in America. We need more of them. Those 
interested in better education would not have such institutions take the 
place of the classical high school. They should rather develop side by 
side, and each should be equally open to all who can make use of their 
work. From this it follows that, if each is a good preparation for life, 
each is also a good preparation for college, and that the colleges and 
universities of the ITnited States should recognize this fact in their 
entrance requirements. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. T3 

We have a number of graduates from manual-training liigh schools 
among our students, and we find them fully capable of holding their own 
with the graduates of classical high schools. 

Very truly yours, 
(Signed) David S. Jordan. 



From the President of the University of Wisconsin. 

October 10, 1900. 
Dear Sir: I believe that every school which can afford to have a 
manual-training department will be profited by it in every way. The 
scholarship of the students need be in no way interfered with, and an 
interest will be created which is of sure value in after life. 

Very respectfully yours, 
(Signed) C. K. Adams, 
President. 



From the President of the University of Illinois. 

* 

Champaign, III. 
Dear Sir: Replying to yours of the 27th ult. I will say that I have 
long been of the opinion that our educational work should give much 
larger recognition to industrial or manual training: 

I think this remark applies to all of our work, from the primary to 
the university. I do not think that manual training is incompatible 
with intellectual development, but, on the contrary, that it promotes and 
supports healthful mental growth. I think it contributes to versatility, 
to contentment, to rational and 'productive living, and so to good citi- 
■"lenship; and accordingly that it should be recognized and helped on 
by all who have any interests in popular education, and particularly by 
all who have any share in the management of the public educational - 
system of the country. I am, 

Very truly yours, 
(Signed) A. S. Draper, 
President. 



EQUIPMENT DESIRABLE FOR CARRYING ON THE INSTRUCTION 
IN WOODWORK AND DOiMESTIC ARTS. 

The following lists have been prepared by request. 
It is hoped that they may be of value to those interested 
in organizing work in manual training and domestic 
arts in connection with the public schools. While not 
everything given in these lists is absolutely necessarj' to 
begin the work, they present what may be regarded as a 
desirable equipment. It will be observed that in most 
cases the cost of benches, tables, and furnishings, is 
high. In many cases these may be furnished by local 
manufacturers at much lower rates, thus materially re- 
ducing the cost. 



74: Manual Training in the Public Schools. 



LIST OF TOOLS FOR SLOYD WORK. 

12 Toles double bench and vise. 

6 22" Disston rip saws. 

6 18" Disston hand saws. 
12 10" Disston back saws. 

4 14" turning saws. 
12 coping sa,ws with 1 doz. extra blades. 
24 No. 3 iron smooth planes. 
24 No. 5 iron jack planes. 
12 iroin spoKe shaves. 
24 No. 12 8" try-squares. 

1 8" Tee bevel. 

24 No. 65 marking gauges. 
24 pr. 6" B. & C. dividers. 
24 No. 1 2' rules. 
12 ^A" Buck Bros, chisels. 
12 Vz" Buck Bros, chisels. 
12 %" Buck's gouges. 

2 8" adj. braces. 

1 set R. Jenning's auger bits W, %", Vz", %", 

%". 
12 asstd. center bits, i^", %", V2" , %" , 

%", %" 
6 asstd. gimlet bits. 

2 Buck Bros.' countersinks. 

1 No. 1 hatchet. 

3 B & G hammers. 
3 rubber mallets. 

2 B & G 4" screw drivers. 

2 knurled nail sets. 

12 10" wood files and handles. 
1 saw file and handle. 

1 rat tail file and handle. 
6 handled brad awls. 

3 Vz Rd. cabinet scrapers. 

3 Swan-neck cabinet scrapers. 

2 No. 12 oilers. 

2 mounted oilstones. 

1 mounted grindstone. 
12 Sloyd knives. 

12 wood carving knives. 

3 carvers' punches. 
12 whisk brooms. 
12 3" irotn clamps. 

2 doz. 45° triangles No. 2013, 7%. 

2 doz. 30°x60° triangles No. 2012, 9. 
2 doz. T squares No. 2079, 24. 

1 box tacks No. 2446. 

2 doz. rulers No. 1630. 
2 doz. Sper comp. 

1 ream drawing paper No. 10, 15/20. 
1 set drawing of models. 

The above list of tools and equipment for Sloyd work 
was prepared bv Miss Anna Murray, Director of the 
Chicago Sloyd School. 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 



75 



The list furnishes an equipment for twenty-four 
pupils, and will cost about $475 of which $270 is esti- 
mated as the cost for benches. Benches at lower cost 
can be secured it desired. 



EQUIPMENT FOR MANUAL TRAINING CENTERS FOR WOOD- 
WORK. 



For a Class of 2.'t Pupils. 

6 Benches for four pupils with Sheldon vises. 
24 Acme bench stops 

1 Grinclsitone 

24 Jack planes No. 5 Bailey, at $1.53 

8 Smooth planes No. 2 Bailey, at $1.22 

20 Blades for No. 5 planes, at 20c 

10 Blades for No. 2 planes, at 20c 

12 Back saws Bishop with etching, at 86c 

6 Panel saws Bishop with etching, at $1.36... 

6 Rip saws Bishop with etching, at $1.50 

3 Turning saws 14", at 90c 

3 Turning jsaws 12", at 90c 

6 Turning saw blades 14", at 14c 

6 Turning saw blades 12", at 14c 

6 Hammers, at 35c 

12 Rubber mallets, at 75c 

3 Common bit braces, at 75c 

1 Set Jennings auger bit 

6 Dowel bits 1%" and 3%", 21/2", at 20c 

2 Countersinks, at 20c 

2 Screw driver bits, at 10c 

2 Oilers, at 10c 

2 i/g" Chisels, at 40c 

6 Vi" Chisels, at 40c 

6 %" Chisels, at 45c 

24 1" Chisels 

12 Vs" Gouges (regular), at 40c 

6 Common spokeshaves, at 25c 

3 Gooseneck scrapers, at 20c , 

6 Straight cabinet scrapers, at 20c , 

24 Ebony line "T" squares 

24 Ebony 45° triangles 

2 Ebony 30° triangles, at 25c 

24 Drawing boards, at 50c 

24 Compasses, at 40c 

12 Rubber erasers, at 8c 

1 Blackboard compass, Haustin's patent 

2 Gross thumb tacks, at 15c 

24 12" Drawing rules, at 5c 

3 1" Varnish brushes, at 21c 

3 Varn ish cups, ait 23c 

3 IW' Varnish brushes, at 23c ; 

1 Slip stone, at 10c , 

6 Wachita oil stone,, at 50c 

24 Trv squares, special, at 25c 

1 "T" bevel 



$138 


00 


12 


00 


10 


00 


36 


72 


9 


76 


4 


00 


2 


00 


10 


32 


8 


16 


9 


00 


2 


70 


2 


70 




84 




84 


2 


10 


9 


00 


2 


25 


4 


00 


1 


20 




40 




20 




20 




80 


2 


40 


2 


70 


13 


20 


4 


80 


1 


50 




60 


1 


20 


6 


00 


6 


00 




50 


12 


00 


9 


60 




96 


1 


25 


« 


30 


1 


20 




63 




69 




96 




10 


3 


00 


12 


00 




30 



Ir 



"6 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

24 Rules 2 ft. ; four fold, at 10c , 

24 Marking gauges, at 25c , 

6 Dividers, B & O, at 32c 

6 Screw drivers, 7", ait 25c , 

6 Nail sets, various sizes at 10c 

12 Ohip carving knives, lat 20c , 

25 Whittling knives, Osborne, at 25c , 

4 Flat files, 8", at 20c 

6 Half round files, 8", ait 20c 

1 Saw file 

1 Bit file 

1 File card and brush 

6 Coping saw frames, at 20c 

3 Doz. coping saw blades 

12 Carving punches (6 squares and 6 half squares) 

6 Wood hand screws. No. 6, at 50c 

6 Wood hand screws, No. 10, at 50c 

24 Bench hooks, at 25c 

1 Locker case , 

6 Counter brushes, at 50c 

6 Whisk brooms, at 15c 

24 Portable adjustable vises 



2 


40 


6 


00 


1 


92 


1 


50 




60 


2 


40 


6 


25 




80 


1 


20 




10 




15 




25 


1 


20 




36 


1 


80 


,3 


00 


3 


00 


6 


00 


25 


00 


3 


00 




90 


36 


00 



$453 12 



The above list was prepared by Robert M.Smith, 
Supervisor of Manual Trarining in Chicago. 

Some reduction can be made in this list if absolutely 
necessary, reducing- the cost to about $300. 



EQUIPMENT FOR SCHOOL KITCHEN. 

The listing that follows is for a school kitchen that 
will accommodate classes of sixteen and includes only 
the necessary equipment to work the classes according 
to the group method. 

The prices quoted are prices obtained from reliable 
furnishing houses on wholesale lots. 

The general furnishings, including tables and cup- 
boards, may be purchased at wholesale or made to or- 
der. Ready made furniture is less expensive and less 
satisfactory than that made to order. The list in- 
cludes prices on both. 

GENERAL FURNISHINGS. 

1 Table for teacher (made to order) at $10.00 $10 00 

4 Tables (drawers, cupboards, cutting and mixing 

boards), at $25.00 100 00 

9 Tables (bought of furnishing store) at $6.00 54 00 

Extra hard wood tops, at $2.00 18 00 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 11 



1 Large steel range, from $30.00 to 

1 RefrigeraJtor 

1 Porcelain sink 

1 Lairge cupboard for utensils (made to order) . . 
1 Large cupboard for supplies (made to order) 
1 Large cupboard for uitensils (made to order). 
1 Large cupboard for supplies (made to order). 

1 Wood-box 

1 Vz doz. stools, at 50c 

1 Step-ladder 

5 Small gas stoves, at $2.00 

1 Garbage can 

1 Ash can 



TINWARE. 



40 


00 


12 


00 


30 


00 


30 


00 


10 


00 


10 


00 


2 


00 


3 


00 


2 


00 


10 


00 


1 


00 




75 



1 Coffee can $0 08 

1 Tea canister 06 

6 Pie pans, at 3c 18 

6 Washington pie pans, at 5c 30 

6 Royal sifters, at 10c 60 

1 Milk strainer 10 

6 Roll pans, at 25c 1 50 

12 Bread stick pans (Russian iron), at 30c 3 60 

6 Brick loaf pans (Russian iron), at 20c. 1 20 

6 Brick loaf pans ( tin ) , at 10c 60 

4 Round loaf oake pans with tubes, at 25c 1 00 

1 Angel cake pan 32 

2 Sets of layer cake pans, at 12c 24 

1 Fish rack 10 

2 Bread raisers, ai 40c • 80 

6 Smiall dripping pans (sheet iron), at 25c 1 50 

2 Medium dripping paras (sheet iron), at 40c. .i 80 

2 Large drippiing pans, at 60c '. 120 

9 Long-handled skimmers, at 3c 27 

1 Plain skimmer i. . . . 01 

6 No. 2 graters, at 18c 1 08 

6 Nutmeg graters, at 2c 12 

2 Doz. mufnn rings, at 10c 20 

5 Sets of muffin pans, at 14c 70 

1 Ginger bread sheet 15 

5 Apple corers, at 2c 10 

9 Biscuit cutters, at l%c 15 

9 Gookie cutters, at Ic 09 

9 Doughnut cutters, at 2c 18 

5 Dish drainers, at 15c 75 

2 4-gal. lard cans, at 30c 60 

9 Graduated measuring cups, at 9c 81 

2 2-qt. pails, at 3c 06 

1 6-qt. pail 11 

6 Flour dredgers, at 2i^c 15 

6 Pepper boxes, at l%c 09. 

6 Salt boxes, at l%c 09 

1 Pint funnel 02 

1 2-qt. funnel 04 

1 Jelly funnel 04 

^2 Dozen ice cream bricks, at $2.25 per doz 1 13 

9 No. 30 gravy strainers, at 4c 36 

1 Squash strainer 20 



78 Manual Training in tlie Public Schools. 

1 Doz. assorted tin covers ^ 45 

1 Brown bread mold 1 65 

1 Melon mold 45 

1 Turk's head mold 35 

1 Dust pan 20 

1 No. 8 steamer 12 

1 Double roaster 60 

1 Turkey roaster 75 

1 No. 3 steam cooker 1 90 

1 Cake box 3 50 

1 Washing boiler (copper bottom) 1 30 

2 Ten pound sug-ar boxes, at 37%c 75 

1 Bread box (japanned) 60 

3 Large flour boxes (japanned) , at 42c 1 26 

1 Spice case (japanned) 45 

2 Large trays (japanned) 1 40 

2 Small trays ( japanned ) , at 50c 1 00 



IRONWARE. 

5 Chopping knives, at 10c 50 

1 Enterprise meat cutter : 2 25 

1 Meat cleaver 50 

1 Set of kitchen scales 2 20 

9 Small sheet iron frying pans, at 10c 90 

2 Medium sheet iron frying pans, at 25c 50 

1 Large sheet iron frying pan 45 

2 Waffle irons, at 65c 1 30 

6 Small griddles, at 15c 90 

6 Gem irons, at 17c 1 02 

9 Dover egg beaters, at 6c 54 

6 Pan cake turners, at 6c 36 

1 Can opener 05 

1 Set of flat irons 70 

1 Ice pick 08 

1 Match siafe 25 

1 Ice chisel i 12 

1 Cork screw , 12 

1 Kitchen saw 26 

1 Coffee mill 1 00 

1 Frying pan and basket 1 75 

3 Corn cake pans, at 17c 51 

5 Silver fruit presisers, at 25c 125 

1 Sink scraper, at 14c 14 



GRANITE WARE. 

9 No. 2 Berlin sauce pans, at 20c 1 80 

1 No. 03 Berlin sauce pans 27 

1 No. 04 Berlin sauce pans 35 

9 No. 52 rice boilers, at 35c _, •...-. 3 15 

1 No. 54 rice boiler 58 

9 Lipped sauce pans, at lOe 90 

1 3-qt. preserve kettle , 17 

1 5-qt. preserve kettle 25 

9 2-pt. pudding pans, at 9c 81 

9 3-pt. pudding pans, at 10c 90 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 79 

2 3-qt. pudding pans, at 14c 28 

9 Pint measures, at 16c 144 

2 1-qt. measures (graduated) , at 21c 42 

6 Pie plates, at 9c 54 

2 2-qt. dippers, at 17o 34 

9 13-in. basting spoons, at 7c 63 

2 Colanders, at 25c 50 

9 10-qt. disli pans, at 32c 2 88 

5 Soap dishes, at 17c 85 

1 Oblong baking pan 36 

1 Coffee pot 50 

1 Tea poit 35 



ENAMEL WARE. 

12 Assorted molds, at 20c 2 40 

9 Soup ladles, at 20c 1 80 

6 3-qt. water pitchers, at 90c 5 40 

1 Oval baking pan 40 

3 Round mixing bowls, at 50c. ; 1 50 

9 5-inch pudding pans, at 18c 1 62 

9 6-inch pudding pans, at 20c 180 



WIRE WARE. 

2 Frying baskets, at 15c 30 

9 No. 3 light broilers, at 10c 90 

6 Potato masihers, at 10c 60 

9 Surprise egg beaters, at 2c 18 

1 No. 1 tea strainer 15 

6 No. 2 tea strainers, at 20c 1 20 

9 Bowl strainers, at 10c 90 

1 No. 4 extension strainer 46 

6 Pot cleaners, at 4c 24 

6 Meat forks, at 4c : . 24 

6 Small wire toasters, at 5c 30 

6 No. 2 dish drainers, at 38c 2 28 

1 Sink basket 15 



CUTLERY. 

S Doz. large steel knives, at $1.25 2 50 

2 Doz. steel forks, at $1.25 2 50 

2 Doz. vegetable knives, at $1.00 2 00 

1 10-inch butcher knife ; 45 

1 Carving set 2 00 

1 Bread knife 1 00 

1 Set Christv knives 1 20 

1 Doz. spatules 3 50 

1 Set of larding needles 50 

1 Emery knife sharpener 12 



80 Manual Traiwmg in the Puhlic Schools. 



PORCELAIN WARE. 

1 1-qt. pitcher 14 

1 2-qt. pitcher t 20 

12 Individual baking dishes, at 8c 96 

9 21/^ qt. mixing bowls, at 10c 90 

1 8-qt. mixing bowl 50 

9 1-pt. bowls, at 8c 72 

9 1-qt. bowls, at 12c 1 08 

18 Egg cups, at 4c. 72 

18 Dinner cups, at 4c 72 

24 Dinner saucers, at 5c 1 20 

24 Dinner plates, at 6c 1 44 

24 Pie plates, at 5e 1 20 

3 Platters, No. 8, No. 10, and No. 12 63 

2 l-gallon stone jugs, oit 9c 18 

2 2-gal. stone jars, at 18c 36 

1 Quart bean pot 25 

12 Spdce jars, at 5c 60 



GLASS WARE. 

24 Jelly glasses, at 18c. per doz 36 

12 Onef-pint Mason jars, at 45c. per doz 45 

12 One-quart Mas'Oin jars, at 50c. per doz 50 

12 Candy jars 1 50 

9 Half-pint measuring glasses, at 7c 63 

1 Lemon juioer 08 

1 Pastry pin 35 

1 Dairy thermometer 35 



WOODEN WARE. 

12 Slotted mixing spoons, at 8i/^c > 1 00 

12 Pastry spoons, at 8c - i 96 

12 Rolling pins (holly), at 24c 2 88 

6 Potato mashers, at 3c 18 

5 13-inch chopping bowls, at 12'^c 63 

1 8-qt. freezer . . . . : 3 15 

1 Potato slicer i ;. . 67 

1 Pair butter spades 10 

1 Butter ladle 08 

1 Butter print 14 

1 Salt box 22 

1 Knife box . . .> 55 

1 Spice mill \ 50 

1 Scouring outfit 25 

1 Pressing board 1 00 



SILVER WARE. 

?. Doz. German silver teaspoons, at $1.00 ■. 2 00 

2 Doz. German silver tablespooois, at $2.00 4 00 

1 Doz. foirks 2 00 

1 Doz. knives 2 50 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 81 



LINEN. 

2 Doz. dish towels 4 50 

2 Doz. hand towels i 3 60 

1 Vz Doz. dish cloths 90 

2 Doz. napkins 3 00 

2 Table cloths 4 00 

6 Tray cloths 3 00 

Dusting cloths, holders, etc 1 50 



' , MISCELLANEOUS. 

6 Asbestos mats, at 3o 18 

6 Dish mops, at 8c 48 

6 Soap shakers, at 8c 48 

2 Market baskets, at 10c 20 

1 Hamper • • 75 

1 10-inch soap stone griddle 45 

$536 29 

This list of the equipments of a School Kitchen was 
prepared by Miss Laura G. Day, Director of Domestic 
Arts in the Stout Manual Training School, and in- 
volves good judgment as to what should be included 
and careful estimates on the cost. Some deviation is 
no doubt allowable. A less complete outfit might an- 
swer but it is not advisable to get along with less if 
means are at hand for supplying the full list. 

The number of pupils provided for is sixteen. Com- 
putations may readily be made for classes of a differ- 
ent number. The class ought not to exceed twenty. 



I. EQUIPMENT FOR BENCH WORK IN WOOD. 
For 2.'t Pupils. 

TOOLS KEPT IN THE TOP DRAWER OF THE BENCH. 

12 Double benches of maple, plain tops and drawers ' $360 00 

24 26" Simmons' or Disston's rip saws, 7 teeth 25 00 

24 26" same, in cross cut saws 25 00 

24 12" same, in back saws 25 00 

24 24" Stanley stick rules 2 40 

24 Sets Buck Bros.' or Butchers' socket firmer chisels, %-l" 60 00 

24 No. 12 Maydole claw hammers 9 00 

24 8" Stanley iron try squares • • 4 60 

24 10" same, bevels. No. 18 6 40 

6 



3 


60 


3 


50 


34 


00 


2 


00 


13 


00 



82 Manual Training in the Public Schools. 

24 8" same gauges 

24 8" Drivewell screw drivers, No. 725 

24 14" Bailey iron jack planes 

24 Round mallets, 3"x5", No. 1 

24 8" Cook's dividers No. 2, one leg removable 

24 1-lb. Wachita oil stones 12 00 

24 Scratch awls with handles 2 00 



TOOLS FOR GENEKAL USE. 

6 12" sweep, Spofford braces 

6 Sets of R. Jenning's auger bits, i/4 to 1", by eighths .... 

1 Clark's extension bit, %" to 3" 

12 Bailey's iron spoke shaves 

6 6" steel cabinet scrapers, 3"x6" 

6 6" rose reamers, square shanks 

6 .Brass oil cans 

3 Sets of No. 42 Buck Bros.' or Butchers' gauges, beveled 
outside 

1 Set same, beveled inside 

2 Hand hevang axes 

12 10" Nicholson's half round rasps 

12 10" same of files 

12 10" same of square files, one safe edge 

12 Square shank twist drills, % to y^" 



II. EQUIPMENT FOR MECHANICAL DRAWING. 

For 24 Pupils. 

24 Special drawing tables, to accommodate eight pupils, 
tools and boards 

24 Drawing boards of pine, 26" by 32" 

24 Micrometer head tee squares 

24 Cases of drawing tools, "Technology set," Watson's, 
Chicago 

24 8" — 45' black rubber triangles 

24 8"— 30/60', same 

24 4" — 45' celluloid triangles 

24 4"— 30/60' same 

24 Hard rubber curves, elliptical 

24 Same, spiral 

24 Box wood triangular scales 

24 Bottles of Higgins' general liquid India ink 

1 Ream of German universal drawing paper 

2 Boxes of thumb tacks 

1 Box hard lead pencils . . , 



6 


00 


15 


00 


1 


00 


2 


00 


1 


20 


1 


50 


1 


00 


15 


00 


5 


00 


2 H)0 


3 


00 


2 


00 


2 


50 


2 


00 



$646 70 



$360 


00 


12 


00 


36 


00 


144 


00 


10 


80 


7 


20 


7 


20 


3 


12 


8 


16 


12 


00 


18 


00 


4 


80 


4 


50 


1 


00 


1 


50 



$630 28 



76 


80 


6 


00 


3 


50 


2 


94 


1 


20 


2 


00 


2 


40 


6 


00 



Manual Training in the Public Schools. 83 

III. EQUIPMENT FOR WOOD TURNING. 

For 12 Pupils. 

12 Wood turning lathes, Putnam, Reed or Vandervoort. . . $600 00 

12 Sets tools of gauges and chisels. Buck Bros.' or 

Butchers' 

12 Parting tools. No. 18, %" 

12 8" dividers, winged 

12 8" outside winged calipers 

12 Foot rules 

12 Whisk brushes < 

12 Wachita slip stones 

12 Wachita oil stones 

$700 84 

The above list of equipment needed for manual train- 
ing- in the mechanic arts lines, was prepared by Mr. 
F, W. Kendall, Director of Mechanic Arts in the Stout 
Manual Training School, Menomonie, Wis. The prices 
are based upon estimates supplied by hardware dealers 
at the time of equipping the Stout Manual Training 
School. This school is one of the best equipped in the 
United States, both as to quantity and quality of mate- 
rial. The list is presented as showing the expense for 
first class equipment for a manual training school, and 
not as indicating what is necessary for the equipment of 
a single room for wood work, adapted to the needs of 
elementary school. 



Library of Congress 



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